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By  W.  Max  Reid 


The  Mohawk  Valley 

The  Story  of  Old  Fort  Johnson 

Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 


The  Kiiins  (tf  l''(ti-l   (icoinc  Luke  ( J('<)i-<>e. 


Lake  George  and 
Lake  Champlain 

The  War  Trail  of  the  Mohawk  and  the  Battle- 
ground of  France  and  England  in 
their  Contest  for  the  Control 
of  North    America 

By 

W.   Max  Reid 

With  84  Illustrations  from   Photographs  by 

John  Arthur   Maney 

and  Two  Maps 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons 
New  York  and  London 
Xlbe  1knlcherbccl?er  press 

IQIO 


Copyright,  1910 

BY 

W.  MAX  REID 


Zbe  iMtfcfterbochef  ©teas,  Hew  Botfc 


The  manuscript  is  finished,  the  task  is  ended,  the  inspiration  gone.  All 
desire  for  success  seems  to  have  ceased,  when,  co-incident  with  the  last  chapter, 
the  vital  spark  fled  from  the  loved  companion  of  my  youth  and  manhood,  to 
whose  memory  this  book  is  dedicated, 

My  Wife. 

"  Misery  treads  on  the  heels  of  Joy  ; 
Anguish  rides  swift  after  Pleasure." 

Ik  Marvel. 


610272 

GEOOUAPHT 


FOREWORD 

THE  original  scheme  of  this  book  was  in  the  main 
pictorial.  The  diversity  of  picturesque  scenery 
in  and  about  the  valley  of  Lake  Champlain  and  the 
basin  of  Lake  George,  strongly  tempted  the  author 
to  prepare  a  volume  that  should  be  primarily  made 
up  of  illustrations.  But  when  I  attempted  to  gather 
together  the  chronological  history  of  these  waterways, 
I  was  confronted  with  such  a  mass  of  gruesome  and 
interesting  material,  that  the  text  seemed  likely  to 
leave  no  room  for  the  illustrations. 

Like  the  northern  boundaries  of  New  York,  New 
France,  and  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Sorel  rivers,  the 
territory  with  which  this  volume  concerns  itself  was 
the  storm  centre  of  many  a  conflict,  that  deluged 
with  blood  the  shores  of  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake 
George.  Backward  and  forward  for  centuries,  per- 
haps, the  Aborigines  had  fought  along  the  shores  of 
these  lakes,  their  fierce  enmity  ceasing  not,  until  the 
feebler  enemy  was  exterminated. 

A  history  of  the  wars  of  the  Mohawks  with  their 
kindred  would,  in  itself,  if  recorded  in  detail,  make 
a  large  volume.  It  has  therefore  been  found  neces- 
sary to  condense  the  narrative  to  make  room  for  an  ac- 
count of  the  conflicts  between  the  white  man  and  the 


vi  Foreword 

dusky  warriors,  between  the  French  and  the  British, 
and  between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country. 
There  is  no  spot  on  American  soil  that  has  witnessed 
more  battles,  small  and  great,  battles  that  were  full 
of  significance  for  two  continents,  than  the  narrow 
shores  of  these  lakes.  Men  that  live  in  history,  whose 
names  are  inseparably  connected  with  the  attenuated 
lengths  of  these  lakes,  have  attained  victory  or  suf- 
fered defeat,  under  the  shadows  of  their,  wooded 
mountains  or  on  their  crystal  waters:  Chief  Hen- 
drick,  Joseph  Brant,  Garonkonte,  and  Kryn  the 
great  Mohawk;  Montcalm,  Vaudreuil,  Champlain, 
Tracy,  Courcelle;  Rogers,  Putnam,  Stark,  and  their 
rangers;  Sir  William  Johnson,  Lyman,  Williams, 
Monro;  Abercrombie,  Lord  Howe,  Invarawe,  Am- 
herst, with  magnificent  armies  of  trained  warriors. 
Somewhat  later  we  have,  Ethan  Allen,  Arnold,  St. 
Clair,  Gates,  Schuyler,  Burgoyne,  Riedesel,  Baum, 
Sir  John  Johnson,  and  others;  later  still,  McComb, 
victor  on  land  in  1814,  and  MacDonough,  who  paral- 
leled his  achievements  on  the  water. 

And  then  we  must  not  forget  the  struggles  of  the 
frontiersmen,  the  half -savage  backwoodsmen,  and  the 
cultured  men  of  wealth  with  dreams  of  baronial 
manors  and  seigniories;  the  black  gowns,  Jogues, 
Bressani,  Fremin,  and  Pierron,  self-sacrificing  Jesuit 
priests,  who  traversed  the  "  bloody  trail "  to  endure 
torture  and  death.  In  the  country  back  of  the  shores 
of  the  lakes,  wild  beasts  of  the  forests,  the  more  dan- 
gerous, wily  savage,  lurking  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
Adirondacks,  and  the  venomous  reptiles  of  the  cliffs. 


Foreword  vii 

made  a  passage  along  the  "  bloody  trail,"  dangerous 
and  often  fatal. 

In  writing  a  book  of  this  "  bloody  trail,"  the  diffi- 
culty has  not  been  a  lack  of  material,  but  rather  the 
wealth  of  gruesome  episodes  enacted  within  its  envi- 
ronment. In  depicting  them,  the  most  authentic  ac- 
counts have  been  sought,  which  have  been  condensed 
only  by  the  elimination  of  the  immaterial.  The  le- 
gends and  the  authentic  tales  give  one  a  glimpse  of 
the  strenuous  lives  of  the  pioneers,  who  braved  death 
and  privation  to  wrest  a  precarious  living  from  forest 
and  plain. 


CONTENTS 


PAGB 

Chapter  I .        .        .  1 

The  coming  of  Samuel  de  Champlain — Cartier — Ro- 
berval — Champlain— Early  aboriginal  occupation  of 
the  Champlain  Valley. 

Chapter  II 14 

Champlain's  first  battle  with  Mohawks — Champlain's 
second  battle  with  Mohawks — Bixby's  paper — 
Madame  Helene  de  Champlain. 

Chapter  III 83 

Henry  Hudson — Hudson's  River — Rivers  of  Lake 
Champlain. 

Chapter  IV  .........         88 

Early  history  of  the  Mohawks — First  expedition  of 
Tracy — Drowning  of  Corlear — Isaac  Jogues — Lac 
du  St.  Sacrement — Naming  of  the  river  Chazy — 
Second  expedition  of  Tracy. 

Chapter  V     .         .         .         .         .         .  "      .         .         .         5G 

Legend  of  Therese. 

Chapter  VI   . 8(> 

Caughnawaga  or  Praying  Indians — Popular  errors 
corrected — Their  early  settlements  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence River — Kryn,  the  great  Mohawk  chief — 
Sufferings  of  the  Jesuit  priests — Withdrawal  of 
converts  from  savage  companions. 


X  Contents 

PACK 

Chapter  VII 96 

Mohawks  not  always  victorious — Story  of  Piscaret,  the 
Algonquin — Activity  of  Mohawks  against  the 
Hui-ons — Capture  of  Father  Bressani — Cannibalism 
of  the  Mohawks. 

Chapter  VIII 102 

The  Great  Iroquois  council  at  Fort  Johnson,  June,  1755 
— Seven  years'  war — Battle  of  Lake  George. 

Chapter  IX 125 

Defence  of  Fort  William  Henry — Massacre  of  garrison 
■ — General  Sir  William  Johnson. 

Chapter  X 142 

General  Abercrombie's  attack  on  Fort  Ticonderoga,  1758 
— General  Sir  J.  Amherst's  campaign,  1759. 

Chapter  XI 150 

Lord  Howe. 

Chapter  XII 161 

Story  of  Major  Duncan  Campbell  (Inverawe) — The 
Black  Watch,  forty-second  royal  highland  regiment. 

Chapter  XIII 169 

Abenakis — St.  Francis  Indians — Rale — Roubaud — Cap- 
tain Robert  Rogers. 

Chapter  XIV 182 

Major-General  Israel  Putnam. 

Chapter  XV 194 

The  capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  by  Captain  Ethan 
Allen. 


Contents  xi 


PAGB 


Chapter  XVI 209 

The  capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  by  Captain  Ethan 
Allen — Continued. 

Chapter  XVII 224 

Crown  Point,  1731  (La  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure) — Fort 
St.  Frederic — Fort  Amherst — Tercentenary  of  the 
discovery  of  Lake  Champlain. 

Chapter  XVIII 229 

New  Hampshire  Grant — General  Benedict  Arnold — 
Evacuation  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  by  General  St. 
Clair — Fort  George — Ethan  Allen. 

Chapter  XIX 247 

Ticonderoga,  1689-1758 — Ticonderoga  to-day. 

Chapter  XX 259 

Story  of  old  Bill  Harris — Bays  within  bays. 

Chapter  XXI 270 

General  John  Burgoyne. 

Chapter  XXII 276 

Bloody  trail — The  Iroquois  legend  of  the  mosquito. 

Chapter  XXIII 285 

Floating  bridge  at  Fort  Ticonderoga — Major  Skene — 
Whitehall  (Skenesboro) —  The  killing  of  Jane 
McCrea— Fate  of  William  Gilliland. 

Chapter  XXIV 297 

The  burning  of  the  steamer  Phoenix  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  September,  1819 — Plattsbur^ — River  Richelieu. 


xii  Contents 

PACK 

Chapter  XXV 305 

Village  of  Lake  George,  formerly  called  Caldwell — 
Bloody  Pond— The  call  of  the  wild — Prospect 
Mountain — Lost  on  the  trail. 

Chapter  XXVI 327 

Diamond  Island. 

Chapter  XXVII .        .332 

The  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 

Chapter  XXVIII 33() 

Bolton — Mohican  House,  en  route  north. 

Chapter  XXIX ;U!) 

Champlain  Canal. 

Chapter  XXX 353 

Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  {Crown  Point). 

Chapter  XXXI 362 

The  last  night  at  the  St.  Frederic. 

Acknowledgment 367 

Index 369 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACING 
PAGK 


The  Ruixs  of  Fort  George,  Lake  George.     Frontispiece 

French    Inscription    on    the    Walls    of    Fort    St. 

Frederic,  Crown  Point 8 

An  Old  Map,  Fort  St.  Frederic 12 

Mount   Independence   and  the   Straits,   from   the 

Grenadier  Battery,  Ticonderoga  ....         14 

Bulwagga  Bay 16 

Down  in  the  Moat,  Fort  Amherst  ....        18 

The  Crown  Point  Light,  and  the  Narrows    .        .        20 

Chimney  Point,  Vermont.     The  Tap  Room  of  Hotel 

St.  Frederic 22 

The    End    of    Old    Ticonderoga — a    Wall    of    the 

Fort 24 

The  Ruins  of  the  Ramparts  of  Old  St.  Frederic, 

Crown  Point 28 

Hotel  St.  Frederic,  Chimney  Point,  Vermont        .        30 

The  Great  Falls  of  the  Hudson,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y.         34 

Moonlight     and     Chimney     Point     Light,     Lake 

Champlain 36 

xiii 


XIV 


Illustrations 


The   Ruins  of  Old  Fort  Amherst,   Orown   Point, 
N.  Y 

The  Old  Underground  Passage  to  Lake,  Fort  St 
Frederic,  Crown  Point         .... 

Looking  Out  through  Dunham  Bay,  Lake  George 

Mount  Defiance,  from  Old  Fort  Ticonderoga  . 

Ti  Creek  and  Mount  Defiance  .... 

Is  THE  Moat  at  Fort  Ticonderoga    . 

Ti  Creek  and  Lake  Champlain,  from  Mount  Hope 

Rogers  Rock,  Ticonderoga  Road,  up  the  Lake 

Old  Fort  Frederic  and  Chimney  Point,  from  the 
Redoubt  of  Old  Fort  Amherst   . 

Ti  Creek  and  Trout  Brook  Junction,  Ticonderoga 

Old    Fort    William     Henry,     Rampart.     Mohican 
Steamer 


In  Cooper's  Cave,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y. 

Battle  Monument,  Lake  George.  Chief  Hendrick 
— General  Sir  William  Johnson 

Fort  Hunter  on  the  Scoharie  .... 

Fort  Johnson.  The  Scene  of  the  Great  Confer 
ence  p.btween  Sir  William  Johnson  and  the 
.Iroquois,  July,  1755 

Champlain's  First  Battle  with  the  Iroquois  . 

Bloody  Pond  and  French  Mountain,  Lake  George 


FACING 
PACE 


38 

40 
U 
48 
52 
58 
62 
66 

80 
84 

90 

98 

106 
112 

120 
128 
156 


Illustrations 


XV 


The  Old  French  Entrenchments.  The  Scene  of 
THE  Charge  of  the  '*  Black  Watch  "  and  Death 
OF  Inverawe.     Ticonderoga 

An  Old  Print,  1842.  Lake  House  and  Prospect 
Mountain        ....... 


The  Tottering  Walls  of  Old  Fort  Amherst,  Crown 
Point,  Lake  Champlain       .... 

In   through   the   Sally-port,   Old   Fort   Amherst 
Crown  Point 


The  Fort  Amherst  Barracks,  Crown  Point    . 

An  Old  Fort  Amherst  Doorway 

Gilliland's  Mill,  Salmon  River 

Fort  George,  Lake  George 

An  Entrenchment  at  Fort  George 

Plan  of  Part  of  Fort  George    . 

The  Stern  of  Arnold's  Flag-ship,  "  The  Revenge  " 

The  Underground  Ovens,  Fort  Ticonderoga    . 

Old  Fort  Ticonderoga — Restoration  . 

Prisoners'  Island,  from  Howes  Landing  . 

Old  Fireplaces,  Fort  Amherst,  Crown  Point  . 

Crab  Island.     Surf  on  Lake  Champlain  . 

A  View  of  Ticonderoga 


FACING 
PAGE 


170 


194 


196 

198 
202 
206 
210 
214 
216 
218 
221' 

22r) 

228 
232 
238 
240 
244 


XVI 


Illustrations 


A  Bit  op  the  Old  Grenadier  Battery,  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga,  n.   y. 

The  Mouth   of  the   Saranac   River.     Cumberland 
Bay  and  Cumberland  Head  in  the  Distance     . 

A  Trout  Brook,  Ticonderoga 

"  Stranded  " — Lake  George 

Joshua's  Rock,  Home  of  Edward  Eggleston,  Lake 
George 


Tea  Island,  Lake  George     . 

The  Battle  of  Lake  George,  1755 

The  Old  Mohican  House,  1898  . 

''  Adania,"  a  Lake  George  Cottage 

Echo  Bay  and  Rogers  Slide,  Lake  George 

Hotel  Champlain 

On  the  Wharf  at  Baldwin,  Lake  George 
On  the  Road  to  Bolton  .... 
Bluff  Point,  Lake  Champlain  . 
St.  James,  Lake  George  Village 
MacDonough's  Victory,  Battle  of  Plattsburg 
Recluse  Island,  Lake  George  .... 
Assembly  Point,  Lake  George    .... 


FACING 
PAGE 


246 

248 
252 
256 

260 
264 
270 
274 
280 
290 
292 
294 
296 
298 
.300 
302 
304 
306 


Illustrations  xvii 


FACINU 
PAGE 


The  Road  at  the  Head  of  Lake  George.     Prospect 

Mountain 308 

The  End  of  the  "  Royal  Savage,"  Lake  Champlain  312 

The    Road    to    the    Landing — Ruins    of    Fort    St. 

Frederic,  Crown  Point,  1731       ....  31(5 

On  the  Prospect  Mountain  Trail     ....  324 

Post-Glacial  Outlet  op  Lake  George.     Marshes  at 

Head  of  Dunham  Bay 328 

Stone's  Bay  and  Rogers  Rock,  Lake  George    .        .  330 

A  Lake  George  Cottage  of  the  Days  Gone  By  .        .  332 

Off  the  South  End  of  Valcour  Island.     Scene  op 

THE  Sinking  of  the  "  Royal  Savage  "      .        .  334 

Diamond  Island  and  Bay  of  Montcalm's  Landing  336 

The     Boundary     Monument,     L^nited     States    and 

Canada 338 

Fort  Montgomery  at  Rouses  Point  (Fort  Blunder)  340 

Huddle  Bay,  Lake  George 346 

North  Bay,  Lake  George 350 

Mohican  Cottage,  Summer  Home  op  W.  H.  Bixby, 

Bolton  Bay,  Lake  George 352 

The  Little  Church  on  the  Hill,  St.  Sacrament, 

Bolton,  Lake  George 354 

"  The  Algonquin,"  Bolton,  Lake  George         .        ,  356 

Silver  Wavelets,  Green  Island,  Lake  George  .        .  358 


XVI II 


Illustrations 


Huddle  Bay,  at  Eventide,  Bolton,  N.  Y. 
Silver  Birches,  Lake  George     . 
Buck  Mountain  and  Pilot  Knob 
DovTN  through  the  Narrov^^s 
Maps 


FACING 
PAGE 

.  360 
.  362 
.  364 
.  366 
At  End 


Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 


Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 


CHAPTER  I 

THE    COMING    OF    SAMUEL    DE     CHAMPLAIN CARTIER 

ROBERVAL CHAMPLAIN EARLY   ABORIGINAL 

OCCUPATION   OF  THE    CHAMPLAIN   VALLEY 

nPHE  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  may  well 
-■■  be  called  the  era  of  discovery,  which  set  the 
whole  civilized  world  on  fire  with  the  lust  for  gold  and 
the  desire  to  acquire  new  possessions.  Although  to 
Columbus  and  other  adventurous  Spaniards  is  given 
the  honor  of  the  discovery  of  America,  modern  re- 
search seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  the  northern 
ice-bound  coast  of  America  was  visited  (although 
there  is  no  evidence  of  an  attempt  to  colonize)  by 
the  hardy  Basque  fishermen  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
fish  (codfish)  on  the  shores  of  the  mainland  and 
among  the  islands  of  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.  It 
is  said  that  this  primeval  people  of  the  Pyrenees, 
older  than  history,  frequented  the  cod-banks,  and  that 
Cabot  in  1497  found  the  name  "  Baccalaos,"  the 
Basque  name  for  codfish,  in  use  among  the  natives 
when,  on  his  first  voyages,  he  visited  the  northern 
coast  of  America.     The  first  third  of  the  sixteenth 


2  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

century  witnessed  many  attempts  to  colonize  M^liich 
ended,  in  the  main,  in  disaster. 

The  search  for  the  fountain  of  youth  bj^  Ponce  de 
Leon  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  Florida  in  1512. 
He  was  told,  however,  by  the  Indians  of  Cuba  and 
Porto  Rico  that  the  fountain  was  to  be  found  on 
the  island  of  Bimlna,  said  to  be  one  of  the  Bahamas. 
This  fountain  was  said  to  have  such  virtue  that, 
bathing  in  its  waters,  old  men  resumed  their  youth. 
Others  say  that  this  wonderful  spring  was  in  Flor- 
ida. Parkman  says,  "  The  story  has  an  explanation 
sufficiently  characteristic,  having  been  suggested,  it 
is  said,  by  the  beauty  of  the  native  women,  which 
none  could  resist  and  which  kindled  the  fires  of  youth 
in  the  veins  of  age." 

Giovanni  de  Verrazzano,  ah  Italian  explorer  sent 
out  by  Francis  I.  of  France,  discovered  Virginia,  and 
sailed  up  the  bay  of  New  York  in  1523. 

Jacques  Cartler,  a  Frenchman,  born  at  St.  Malo, 
visited  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  in  1534,  and  again 
in  1535,  w^hen  he  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence  River 
as  far  as  Montreal  (Hochelaga),  and  returning  to 
Stadacone  (Quebec),  built  a  fort  and  spent  the 
winter  on  those  inhospitable  shores.  Cartler's  third 
voyage  was  undertaken  in  1541,  for  the  purpose  of 
colonization,  having  as  a  patron  Jean  Fran9ois  de 
la  Rocque,  known  to  history  as  Sieur  de  Roberval. 
This  expedition  w^as  composed  of  five  ships,  with 
colony  and  crews  consisting  of  "  many  thieves,  rob- 
bers, and  other  malefactors  taken  from  prisons  to 
complete  the  colony."     Cartler   (1541)   sailed  before 


Roberval  3 

Roberval  who  did  not  get  awaj^  before  April,  1542. 
Roberval's  company  was  somewhat  mixed,  being 
composed  of  nobles,  officers,  soldiers,  sailors,  ad- 
venturers, with  women,  too,  and  children.  At  last 
the  ships  reached  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  and 
steered  north  to  the  Straits  of  Belle  Isle  and  the 
dreaded  Isle  of  Demons  between  the  coasts  of 
Labrador  and  Newfoundland. 

Of  the  women  were  some  of  birth  and  station, 
among  whom  was  a  damsel  called  Marguerite,  a 
niece  of  Roberval  himself.  This  young  woman  had 
formed  an  attachment  for  a  young  man,  compara- 
tively well  to  do  and  of  fine  personal  appearance, 
in  every  way  an  equal  in  station  to  INIarguerite;  but 
her  uncle  had  conceived  a  hatred  for  the  ardent  lover, 
and  it  was  probably  for  the  purpose  of  separating 
them  that  Roberval  conceived  the  idea  of  taking  the 
young  girl  with  him  on  his  journey  to  the  new  world. 
But  it  is  said  that  love  laughs  at  locksmiths,  and 
apparently  at  insurmountable  obstacles  as  well.  It 
was  not  until  after  a  number  of  days'  journey  be- 
yond the  Azores,  that  Roberval  discovered  the  young 
man  as  a  passenger  on  his  own  ship.  The  rage  of 
the  uncle  knew  no  bounds,  but  he  was  powerless  to 
get  rid  of  him  except  by  throwing  him  overboard  or 
putting  him  in  irons.  This  he  could  not  do,  so  he 
had  to  submit  to  his  presence,  and  was  kept  occupied 
frustrating  the  frequent  attempts  of  the  lovers  to  meet 
each  other.  Marguerite,  in  strength,  physique,  and 
temperament  well  fitted  to  entertain  and  also  inspire 
a  feeling  of  passionate  love,  defied  her  uncle,  who 


4  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

was  scandalized  and  enraged  at  a  passion  which 
scorned  concealment  and  set  shame  at  defiance. 

The  whole  deplorable  situation,  with  Marguerite's 
scorn  for  Roberval,  enraged  him  to  such  an  extent 
that  he  cast  anchor  at  the  dreaded  Isle  of  Demons, 
haunted  by  devils,  and  peopled  with  wild  beasts, 
landed  his  indiscreet  relative,  gave  her  four  arque- 
buses for  defence,  and,  with  an  old  Norman  nurse 
named  Bastienne,  who  had  pandered  to  the  lovers, 
left  her  to  her  fate.  The  agony  of  Marguerite  when, 
being  landed  on  that  fearsome  island,  separated  from 
her  lover  and  alone  with  her  faithful  nurse,  she 
realized  that  death  from  starvation  awaited  them, 
was  fearful  to  behold;  and  when  the  sails  of  the  ship 
filled  and  its  prow  was  turned  to  its  interrupted  west- 
ward course  she  called  on  her  lover  in  shrieks  of 
anguish,  and  threw  herself  prone  on  her  face  on  the 
shore  while  her  clinched  fingers  buried  themselves  in 
the  sands  of  the  beach. 

On  the  return  of  the  boat,  the  ship  continued  on 
its  voyage,  but  Fran9ois,  her  lover,  having  secured 
two  arquebuses  and  a  quantity  of  ammunition 
dropped  silently  and  unnoticed  into  the  surf  and  by 
desperate  effort,  swimming  and  wading,  reached  the 
beach.  But  the  ships  receded,  vanished,  and  the 
forlorn  occupants  of  that  lonely  isle  were  left  alone. 

The  approach  of  Fran9ois  had  been  unnoticed  by 
the  two  women  and  not  until  he  stood  over  her  and 
in  a  voice  of  anguish  called,  "  Marguerite,  my  love," 
did  the  girl's  voice  cease  its  hopeless  lamentations. 
Springing  to  her  feet,  her  arms  entwined  about  the 


Isle  of  Demons  5 

neck  of  her  lover  while  he  pressed  her  loved  form 
to  his  breast,  both  unmindful  of  his  drenched  gar- 
ments and  dishevelled  appearance.  After  the  first 
paroxysm  of  joy  at  their  reunion  had  somewhat  sub- 
sided, they  became  aware  of  the  perils  that  sur- 
rounded them  and  listened  in  terror  at  the  fearful 
sounds  and  dangers  that  encompassed  them.  It  was 
then  that  thej^  began  to  realize  that  strenuous  action 
and  not  passive  enjoyment  of  their  love,  was  indeed 
necessary  in  order  to  protect  their  lives.  Plenty  of 
food  for  their  immediate  necessities  had  been  left 
them  by  Roberval,  but  no  habitation  was  to  be  found 
in  their  immediate  vicinity. 

Amid  the  howling  of  the  demons  of  the  isle  and 
the  hoarse  raging  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the  forest,  they 
set  out  to  ascertain  if  any  shelter  could  be  found. 
Fortunately  a  rude  hut  of  unhewn  logs,  erected  by 
some  Basque  fisherman,  w^as  found  at  the  edge  of 
the  forest.  Although  in  a  dilapidated  condition  it 
ser\^ed  very  well  as  a  means  of  defence,  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  repairs  would  have  to  be  made  to 
protect  them  from  the  weather.  The  summer  season 
Avas  at  hand  and  their  hut  was  surrounded  day 
and  night  by  raging,  hungry,  clamoring  beasts  of 
prey,  striving  to  force  their  frail  barrier. 

The  lovers  had  repented  of  their  sin  though  not 
abandoning  it,  and  Heaven  was  on  their  side.  "  The 
Saints  vouchsafed  their  aid,"  says  Andre  Thevet 
(1586),  "and  the  offended  Virgin  relenting,  held 
before  them  her  protecting  shield.  In  the  form  of 
beasts  or  other  shapes  abominably  and  unutterably 


6  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

hideous,  the  brute  of  hell,  howling  in  baffled  fury, 
tore  at  the  branches  of  their  sylvan  dwelling ;  but  the 
celestial  hand  was  ever  interposed,  and  there  was  a 
viewless  barrier  which  they  might  not  pass.  Mar- 
guerite became  pregnant.  Here  was  a  double  prize, 
two  souls  in  one,  mother  and  child.  The  fiends  grew 
frantic  but  all  in  vain.  She  stood  undaunted  amid 
these  horrors."  But  her  lover  was  heart-broken  at 
the  thought  that  through  his  love  for  this  peerless 
woman,  who  seemed  to  thrive  under  all  of  the  bur- 
dens, all  of  the  hardships  of  their  life,  ever  cheerful, 
ever  vigorous,  and  of  undaunted  courage,  she  should 
be  suffering  all  of  the  horrors  of  this  dreadful  isle. 
Francois  took  all  the  blame  for  their  forlorn  situation 
upon  himself,  protesting  that  if  he  had  been  less  self- 
ish, if  he  had  only  refrained  from  following  Mar- 
guerite to  the  ship  and  forcing  his  attention  upon 
her,  if  he  only  had  restrained  his  passion  to  a  greater 
degree,  she  would  be  in  the  New  World  with  her 
uncle,  surrounded  with  comforts  and  perhaps  admira- 
tion, whereas  instead  of  enjoying  these  advantages 
they  were  on  this  lone  isle,  and  he  in  his  weak  con- 
dition not  able  to  work  or  secure  for  her  the  food 
necessary  for  her  existence.  Dismayed,  he  sickened 
and  died.  Her  child  soon  followed,  then  the  old 
Norman  nurse  found  her  unhallowed  rest  in  that 
accursed  soil,  and  Marguerite  was  left  alone.  Neither 
her  reason  nor  her  courage  failed  her.  For  months 
after  they  had  consumed  the  food  left  by  Roberval, 
their  subsistence  consisted  of  the  flesh  of  wild  beasts, 
together  with  roots  and  herbs,  berries,  and  other  small 


Isle  of  Demons  7 

fruits,  and  nuts  gathered  and  stored  in  their  season. 
In  fact  their  manner  of  living  was  more  savage  than 
that  of  the  Indians  themselves.  With  flint  and  steel 
and  gunpowder  they  were  able  to  create  and  main- 
tain fire,  but  their  clothing  had  long  been  supple- 
mented by  the  skins  of  the  beasts  that  were  slain. 

When  the  demons  assailed  her  she  shot  at  them 
with  her  gun,  but  they  answered  with  hellish  merri- 
ment, and  thenceforth  she  placed  her  trust  in  Heaven 
alone.  There  were  foes  around  her  of  the  upper  no 
less  than  the  nether  world.  Of  these  the  bears  were 
the  most  redoubtable ;  yet,  being  vulnerable  to  mortal 
weapons,  she  killed  three  of  them,  "  all,"  says  the 
story,  "  as  white  as  an  egg.'' 

"  It  was  two  years  and  five  months  from  her  land- 
ing on  the  island,"  says  Andre  Thevet,  "  when  far  out 
at  sea,  the  crew  of  a  small  fishing  vessel  saw  a  column 
of  smoke  curling  upward  from  the  haunted  shore. 
Was  it  a  device  of  the  fiends  to  lure  them  to  their 
ruin?  They  thought  so  and  kept  aloof.  But  mis- 
givings seized  them.  They  warity  drew  near,  and 
descried  a  female  figure  in  wild  attire,  waving 
signals  from  the  strand." 

Thus  at  length  JNIarguerite  was  rescued  and  re- 
stored to  her  native  France,  where  a  few  years  later 
she  told  her  story  to  the  monk  Thevet,  a  friend  of 
Roberval. 

But  what  became  of  Roberval?  Having  left  his 
niece  on  the  Isle  of  Demons,  he  held  his  course  and 
dropped  anchor  off  Cape  Rouge  in  the  vicinity  of 
the   present   city   of    Quebec.     On   the   heights,    his 


8  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

company,  consisting  of  two  hundred  men,  women, 
and  children,  set  at  work  with  pick  and  spade,  axe, 
saw,  and  hammer,  and  soon  in  the  wilderness  uprose 
a  goodly  structure,  half  barracks,  half  castle.  "  Here 
all  of  the  colony  were  housed,"  says  Thevet,  "  under 
the  same  roof;  officers,  soldiers,  nobles,  artisans,  la- 
borers, convicts,  women,  and  children.  In  this  struc- 
ture there  w^re  storehouses,  but  no  stores,  mills  but 
no  grist,  an  ample  oven  but  a  dearth  of  bread. 
Winter  and  famine  followed,  disease  broke  out  and, 
before  spring,  killed  one  third  of  the  colony.  The 
rest  would  have  quarrelled  and  mutinied,  but  disorder 
was  dangerous  under  the  iron  rule  of  Roberval.  One 
man  was  hanged  for  a  petty  theft,  another  was  put 
in  irons  for  a  more  venial  crime.  The  whipping-post 
was  in  use  for  quarrelling  men  and  scolding  women. 
Six  of  his  former  favorites  were  hanged  in  one  day, 
others  were  banished  to  an  island  and  there  kept  in 
fetters,  while,  for  various  light  offences,  several,  both 
men  and  women,  were  shot.  Others  escaped  into 
the  wilderness,  trusting  more  to  the  friendship  of 
the  Indian  savage  than  the  justice  of  the  white 
savage." 

The  fate  of  the  balance  of  the  colony  is  unknown; 
although  it  is  recorded  that  in  the  summer  of  1543 
the  King  sent  Cartier  across  the  ocean  to  bring 
Roberval  home.  This  ended  the  French  occupation 
of  Canada.  More  than  sixty  years  elapsed  before 
it  was  revived  b}^  the  coming  of  Samuel  Champlain. 

After  the  voyage  of  Cartier-Roberval  in  1541-42, 
no  further  attempt  was  made  towards  the  coloniza- 


X 


d        Z 


i 


A 


Champlain  9 

tion  of  Canada  until  the  abortive  attempt  of  IMarquis 
la  Roche  in  1598  who  ransacked  the  prisons  and  went 
to  sea  with  a  gang  of  thieves  and  desperadoes,  in  a 
vessel  so  small  that  the  convicts,  leaning  over  her  side, 
could  wash  their  hands  in  the  sea.  Landing  at  Sable 
Island  he  put  ashore  forty  of  the  convicts,  and  with 
his  more  trusty  followers,  sailed  away  to  explore  his 
new  dominion  and  to  select  a  site  for  his  new  capital, 
to  which  he  intended  in  due  time  to  remove  the 
prisoners.  But  suddenly  a  tempest  arose  and  the 
frail  vessel  was  forced  to  run  before  the  wind,  which 
eventually  drove  it  back  towards  France,  and  the 
forty  forlorn  creatures  were  left  without  food  or 
shelter.  By  hunting  and  fishing,  part  of  their  num- 
ber survived,  although  it  is  said  that  some  of  them 
quarrelled  and  killed  one  another,  and  that  many  died 
through  disease. 

After  five  years,  King  Henry  of  Navarre,  whose 
attention  was  called  to  this  unfortunate  body  of  men 
stranded  on  those  distant  shores,  sent  a  ship  to  suc- 
cor them.  Out  of  the  forty  men  left  by  La  Roche, 
only  twelve  were  found  alive  and  returned. 

This  same  year  (1603)  Samuel  de  Champlain, 
under  the  auspices  of  Aymar  de  Chastes,  sailed  for 
the  new  world.  Francis  Parkman  says :  "  Like 
specks  on  the  bosom  of  the  waters  the  two  pigmy 
vessels  held  their  course  up  the  lonely  waters  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  until  the  mountains  of  INIontreal  reared 
before  them.  All  was  solitude,  Hochelaga  had  van- 
ished; and  of  the  savage  population  that  Cartier 
had  found  here,   sixty-eight  years  before,   no   trace 


lo  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

remained."  (After  numerous  wars  they  had  fled  or 
been  driven  to  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  are  known 
in  history  as  the  Terrible  INIohawks.)  "  Champlain, 
in  a  skiff,  essayed  to  pass  the  rapids  of  St.  Louis. 
Oars,  paddles,  and  poles  alike  proved  vain  and  he 
was  forced  to  return.  The  savages  told  of  rapids, 
and  cataracts,  and  a  chain  of  lakes  above.  Baffled, 
Champlain  turned  his  prow  homeward;  the  object 
of  his  mission  accomplished,  but  his  own  adventurous 
curiosity  unsated.  When  the  voyagers  reached  Havre 
de  Grace,  Champlain  learned  that  his  patron,  De 
Chastes,  was  dead." 

His  mantle,  however,  fell  upon  Pierre  de  Gast, 
Sieur  de  Monts,  who  obtained  leave  to  colonize  Aca- 
dia or  Nova  Scotia,  under  the  title  of  lieutenant- 
general  in  Acadia. 

A  clause  in  his  commission  empowered  him  to  im- 
press idlers  and  vagabonds  as  material  for  his  colonj^ 
However,  many  men  of  character  volunteered,  and 
here  too  were  Catholic  priests  and  Huguenot  min- 
isters, and  with  him  went  Champlain  and  Baron  de 
Poutrincourt. 

De  Monts  sailed  from  Havre  de  Grace  in  1604 
and  in  due  time,  while  coasting  about  the  Bay  of 
Fonda,  discovered  the  Bay  of  Annapolis.  Poutrin- 
court was  so  pleased  with  the  beauty  of  the  country 
that  he  asked  De  Monts  for  a  grant  of  that  portion 
of  Nova  Scotia,  which  being  given  him,  Poutrincourt 
attempted  a  settlement,  naming  it  Port  Royal. 

For  three  years  Champlain  spent  his  time  explor- 
ing the  coast,  making  charts  of  all  the  principal  road- 


Champlain 


II 


steads  and  harbors,  but  the  colony  was  not  a  success, 
and  in  October,  1607,  the  colonists  gave  up  the  task 
and  sailed  for  France;  but  the  following  year  (1608) 
Champlain,  having  suggested  to  De  Monts  that  a 
point  on  the  St.  Lawrence  would  be  a  more  eligible 
site  for  the  seat  of  the  projected  new  empire,  was 
sent  to  the  river  during  that  year  with  Portgreve, 
and  at  Stadacona,  an  Indian  village,  founded  Quebec. 

It  is  said  that  during  the  winter  of  1608-09  Cham- 
plain's  camp  at  Quebec  was  the  scene  of  many  a 
discussion,  many  a  theory,  in  regard  to  the  upper 
waters  of  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  and  the  stories  of 
the  Indians,  told  around  their  camp-fires  in  the 
hunting  excursions  in  the  forests  in  the  vicinity  of 
Stadacona,  stirred  the  explorer's  imagination  to  an 
unwonted  degree. 

He  heard  of  fearful  rapids,  long  stretches  of 
placid  waters,  and  myriads  of  enchanting  isles;  an 
endless  chain  of  lakes  or  inland  sea,  a  cataract  of 
prodigious  height  whose  thunder  could  be  heard  miles 
away,  and  he  was  told  of  the  terrible  Iroquois,  whose 
very  name  was  a  terror  to  the  Canadian  Indian,  and 
of  their  long  houses  south  of  a  great  lake.  There 
also  he  heard  of  the  gateway  to  the  ^lohawks'  coun- 
try (the  most  warlike  of  the  Iroquois),  a  beautiful 
lake  two  days'  journey  long,  nestling  in  a  broad 
valley,  with  glimpses  of  towering  mountains  to  the 
east  and  to  the  west. 

Like  all  explorers  of  earty  date,  Champlain  was 
in  search  of  the  mythical  northwest  passage,  and  in 
the  great  rivers  and  the  great  Iroquois  Sea,  he  saw 


12  The  Coming  of  Champlain 

the  gateway  to  China.  In  fact  the  name,  La  Chine, 
as  applied  to  the  great  rapid,  was  given  to  it  in 
derisive  alhision  to  an  expedition,  projected  by  La 
Salle,  to  discover  a  route  to  China  via  the  river 
St.  Lawrence.  His  curiosity  was  excited,  and  as 
soon  as  the  river  was  cleared  of  its  melting  ice,  he 
set  out  upon  a  voyage  to  the  Mohawks'  country. 

The  term  pre-historic  is  somewhat  elastic  in  its 
meaning,  although  its  usual  definition  is,  "  previous 
to  written  history."  In  the  old  world  this  takes  us 
back  thousands  of  years,  but  in  the  new  only  a  few 
centuries.  In  this  country,  however,  it  seems  inter- 
changeable with  the  term  pre-Columbian  or  previous 
to  the  discovery.  In  the  Mohawk  and  Champlain 
valleys  it  generally  refers  to  the  period  previous  to 
1609.  Along  the  Mohawk  River  are  many  evidences 
of  Indian  occupation,  and  three  of  the  sites  that  I 
am  familiar  with  (Otstungo,  Garoga,  and  Cayadutta) 
are  evidently  pre-historic,  as  no  relics  have  been  found 
in  the  debris  that  would  indicate  that  the  Aborigines 
had  ever  been  in  contact  with  white  men  or  traders, 
no  objects  of  glass  or  metal  having  been  discovered 
in  these  palisaded  villages. 

Many  camp  or  dwelling  sites  have  been  discovered, 
but  although  celts,  flint  implements,  and  fragments 
of  pottery  have  been  unearthed,  traders'  beads,  brass, 
copper,  and  iron  are  also  in  evidence.  The  fact  that 
flint  arrow  and  spear  points  are  found  scattered  over 
so  great  an  area  has  led  many  to  the  erroneous  idea 
that  this  part  of  New  York  State  was  thickly  popu- 
lated with  Amerinds  at  an  early  period.     But  this 


Aboriginal  Occupation  13 

was  not  the  fact,  as  many  of  the  so-called  Indian 
sites  are  not  villages,  but  fishing  and  hunting  camps, 
or  isolated,  temporary  dwellings.  The  fact  that  the 
Mohawks  who  lived  in  three  small  villages  claimed 
about  one  hundred  miles  of  the  JNIohawk  Valley  as 
their  abode,  and  the  Adirondacks  and  Champlain 
Valley  as  their  hunting  grounds  and  highway  to 
New  France,  could  never  muster  at  their  greatest 
strength  more  than  six  hundred  warriors  (and  at  the 
time  of  the  Revolution,  about  ninety)  would  seem  to 
prove  that  many  of  the  sites  along  the  shores  of 
Lake  Champlain,  named  in  Beauchamp's  Aboriginal 
Occupation  of  New  York,  were  hunting,  fishing,  and 
war  camps  of  the  INIohawks,  occupied  over  and  over 
again  from  year  to  year. 

That  there  was  previous  and  permanent  occupation 
of  the  Champlain  basin  seems  reasonable,  but  whether 
such  occupation  was  made  by  the  Abenakis,  JNIahicans, 
Adirondacks,  or  some  other  Algonquin  tribe  will 
probably  never  be  known. 

For  more  than  a  century  hostile  tribes  passed  back 
and  forth  over  the  clear  waters  of  Lakes  George  and 
Champlain,  and  somewhat  later,  French  and  English 
armies  met  in  mortal  combat  along  their  shores,  but 
in  all  that  time,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  no  evidence 
can  be  obtained  of  a  permanent  Indian  village  having 
been  destroyed,  or  having  existed  in  that  vicinity. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHAMPLAIN's  first  battle  with  MOHAWKS CHAM- 

PLAIN's       second       battle       with       MOHAWKS 

BIXBY^S  PAPER MADAME  HELENE  DE  CHAM  PLAIN 

ALONG  the  northern  border  of  New  York  State, 
and  in  fact  forming  its  northwesterly  boundary, 
flows  the  great  river  St.  Lawrence,  its  source  the 
Great  Lakes,  its  mouth  the  cold  waters  of  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence,  seven  hundred  miles  away.  Some 
of  the  old  maps  include  Lakes  Ontario,  Erie,  and 
St.  Clair  to  Port  Huron,  under  the  name  of  St. 
Lawrence  River,  the  river  of  "  les  Mille  -Isles." 

A  hundred  miles  south  in  the  wilderness  of  the 
Adirondacks,  in  springs  and  rivulets  gathering  vol- 
ume as  they  flow,  the  great  river  of  New  York,  the 
Hudson,  finds  its  birth.  To  the  east  a  lake  is  also 
born  bearing  the  name  of  Scroon  Lake. and  Scroon 
River,  which  winds  through  the  sylvan  scenery  of 
the  Adirondacks  to  increase  the  volume  of  the  upper 
Hudson  at  Warrensburg. 

In  July,  1609,  Samuel  de  Champlain,  only  a  year 
after  his  landing  at  Stadacona,  afterwards  named 
Quebec,  sailed  up  the  St.  Lawrence  in  a  small  shal- 
lop with  a  party  of  Montagues  Indians  in  canoes, 

14 


Champlain's  First  Battle  15 

until  they  came  to  the  lake-Hke  expansion  of  the 
river,  called  Lake  St.  Peter.  At  the  upper  end  of 
the  lake  they  turned  the  prows  of  their  canoes  into 
the  Iroquois  River  (Richelieu),  bearing  directly 
south  to  the  then  unkno^^Tl  Lake  Champlain. 

Champlain  being  anxious  to  see  the  country  of  the 
Mohawks,  of  whom  he  had  heard  so  many  fearful 
stories,  and  being  eager  to  prevent  the  Montagnes 
from  destroying  his  feeble  settlement  while  he  was 
absent,  had  induced  a  body  of  these  savages  to  organ- 
ize a  warlike  expedition  against  the  ISIohawks.  The 
war  party  consisted  of  about  eighty  Indians,  together 
with  Champlain  and  two  of  his  French  soldiers.  The 
INIohawk  castles  were  situated  in  the  jNIohawk  Valley, 
about  three  hundred  leagues  from  Quebec. 

The  fact  that  Champlain's  account  of  the  battle 
that  subsequently  ensued  between  his  war  party  and 
the  INIohawks  states  that  the  encounter  took  place  in 
latitude  43°  and  some  minutes  ( ?)  would  indicate  that 
they  paddled  nearly  the  whole  length  of  the  lake,  as 
latitude  43°  would  be  in  the  vicinity  of  the  small 
stream  which  empties  into  Lake  Champlain  at  the 
mouth  of  Lake  George,  south  of  Ticonderoga. 

Marc  Lescarbot's  account  of  the  battle  is  as 
follows : 

"  There  has  always  been  war  between  the  Mon- 
tagnes and  the  Mohawks,  as  there  has  been  between 
the  Algonquins  and  Etchmichins,  and  sometimes  the 
Iroquois  have  raised  as  many  as  eight  thousand  ( ?) 
men  to  war  against  and  exterminate  all  those  who  live 
near  the  great  river  of  Canada.     When  Champlain 


i6  Champlain 

arrived  there  with  his  Indians,  they  could  not 
conceal  themselves  so  well  but  they  were  perceived 
by  the  Mohawks,  who  always  have  sentinels  of  their 
enemies,  and  each  side  being  well  fortified,  it  was 
agreed  among  them  not  to  fight  that  day  but  to 
postpone  the  affair  until  the  morrow. 

"  The  weather  was  then  very  clear,  and  in  the  early 
morning  a  din  was  heard  throughout  the  camp.  A 
Mohawk  skirmisher  having  tried  to  issue  from  the 
fortification  was  pierced  through  by  an  arrow  which 
stretched  him  out  on  his  back.  Full  of  rage  the 
Mohawks  took  their  places  in  the  line  of  attack  and 
defence.  As  the  band  of  Mohawks  advanced,  Cham- 
plain,  w^ho  had  charged  his  arquebus  with  two  balls, 
seeing  two  Indians,  whose  heads  were  adorned  with 
feathers,  marching  on  in  front,  supposed  they  were 
two  captains,  and  wanted  to  advance  and  aim  at  them, 
but  w^as  prevented  by  the  Montagues  saying :  '  It  is 
not  well  that  they  should  see  thee,  for,  never  having 
been  accustomed  to  see  such  peoples,  as  thou  art,  they 
would  immediately  run  away.  But  withdraw  behind 
our  first  rank  and  when  we  are  ready  thou  shalt 
advance.'  " 

He  did  so,  and  in  this  way  the  two  captains  were 
slain  at  one  musket  shot.  Victory  ensued  at  once, 
as  the  Mohawks  fled  and  the  Champlain  Indians  pur- 
sued, capturing  some  of  their  foes  and  obtaining  corn 
and  meal,  beside  numerous  weapons  that  had  been 
thrown  away  in  the  terror  of  the  flight. 

Champlain  records  that  the  fight  occurred  in 
latitude  43°  and  some  minutes   ( ?) . 


Champlain's  First  Battle  17 

Crown  Point  lies  in  43^  55'. 
Ticonderoga  "  "  43°  50'. 
Whitehall  "      "    43°  35'. 

From  the  above,  practically  all  that  we  can  deduce  is 
that  the  battle  occurred  at  some  point  on  the  upper  end 
of  the  lake,  presumably  in  the  vicinity  of  the  mouth 
of  Lake  George  at  Ticonderoga. 

The  few  ounces  of  lead  fired  by  Champlain  and 
his  two  soldiers  in  this  battle  in  the  wilderness,  cost 
France  millions  of  francs  and  hundreds  of  lives.  The 
two  shots  from  arquebuses  made  the  Mohawks,  and 
through  them  the  Iroquois,  deadly,  vindictive  en- 
emies, who  in  later  years  desolated  fair  fields  of  grain, 
burnt  innumerable  houses,  cut  off  their  hunters,  ter- 
rorized their  Algonquin  allies,  destroyed  the  Hurons, 
and  utterly  paralyzed  the  Jesuit  missions,  by  burning 
their  chapels  and  torturing  to  death  their  faithful  and 
fearless  priests.  In  1659  and  1660,  New  France  was 
threatened  with  famine,  and  business  was  paralyzed 
on  account  of  the  farmers  leaving  their  fields  un- 
cultivated through  fear  of  the  JNIohawks,  who  were 
constantly  passing  up  and  down  Lake  Champlain  in 
small  war  parties. 

Champlain's  object  in  organizing  his  war  party  was 
to  penetrate  to  the  home  of  the  Mohawks  in  the  INIo- 
hawk  Valley.  Although  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Champlain 
and  Lake  George  was  always  called  the  INIohawks 
country,  thej^  had  no  habitations  there,  but  it  was 
frequently  visited  by  them  for  fishing  and  hunting. 
We  have  only  Champlain's  version  of  the  first  battle, 


i8  Champlain 

but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  encounter  on  the 
lake  was  a  surprise  to  him,  as  it  was  a  check  which 
prevented  him  from  accomphshing  the  object  of  his 
journey. 

Although  he  records  a  complete  victory  over  the 
Mohawks  it  seems  to  have  quenched  in  him  all  de- 
sire to  continue  the  journey,  each  party  being  prob- 
ably glad  to  hurry  away  from  the  scene  of  the  battle. 
We  are  told,  however,  that  in  1610  the  Mohawks 
carried  the  war  into  their  enemies'  country,  boldly 
advancing  down  the  Richelieu,  nearly  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  River. 

Here  they  were  assailed  by  the  Montagues  and 
Algonquins.  The  Mohawks,  probably  aware  that  a 
large  body  of  their  enemies  were  in  their  vicinity,  had 
erected  a  rude  fortification  of  logs,  by  felling  trees 
and  forming  them  into  a  circle  with  branches  out- 
ward. Although  outnumbered  they  calmly  awaited 
attack.  The  Algonquins  seem  to  have  been  the  first 
to  attack,  after  sending  word  for  the  white  men  and 
the  Montagues  to  hurry  forward.  The  first  onset 
was  repulsed,  but  the  body  of  the  Montagues,  to- 
gether with  Champlain  and  four  French  soldiers  and 
a  number  of  fur-traders  armed  with  guns,  soon  ar- 
rived, surrounded  the  fort,  and  poured  in  a  hot  fire 
of  bullets,  killing  many. 

It  is  said  that  the  ^lohawks  fought  so  fiercely,  and 
so  bravely,  that  all  but  fifteen  of  the  defenders  were 
slain.  Champlain  was  wounded  in  the  neck  and  ear 
with  a  stone  arrow,  and  one  of  his  men  met  with  a 
similar  accident.     It  is  said  that  one  of  the  Iroquois 


Champlain's  Battle,  1615  19 

prisoners  was  killed  and  eaten,  and  the  balance 
reserved  for  torture  at  the  homes  of  the  victors. 

The  number  of  warriors  of  the  Iroquois  was  always 
greatly  exaggerated  bj^  the  French.  In  1660  the 
Mohawks'  fighting  strength  did  not  exceed  five  hun- 
dred, Oneidas'  one  hundred,  Onondagas'  three  hun- 
dred, Cajoigas'  three  hundred,  and  Senecas'  one 
thousand  men. 

In  1711  the  IMohawks  could  not  muster  more  than 
one  hundred  warriors.  It  is  said  that  the  great  Chief 
Hendrick  had  no  more  than  ten  men.  During  the 
Revolution  only  ninety  Mohawks  were  with  Joseph 
Brant. 

The  policy  of  Champlain  in  dealing  with  the  Iro- 
quois was  very  indiscreet,  and  he  capped  the  climax 
in  1615  when  he  was  induced  by  the  Hurons  to  lead 
a  large  body  of  that  nation  in  an  attack  on  the  Onon- 
dagas at  some  point  in  IMadison  County.  Although 
taken  by  surprise,  the  Iroquois  retired  to  their 
fortified  village  and  beat  off  their  enemies. 

Champlain  and  his  twelve  Frenchmen  assisted  by 
the  Hurons  built  a  tower  that  overtopped  the  pali- 
sade, and  with  his  guns  drove  the  Iroquois  from  their 
galleries,  but  the  Hurons  not  daring  to  follow  up  the 
advantage  gained,  the  Frenchmen  were  obliged  to 
retreat.  Champlain  was  wounded,  and  the  Hurons 
discouraged  fled,  bearing  their  commander  away  on 
a  rude  litter. 

These  attacks  on  the  Iroquois  at  both  ends  of  the 
Confederacy  aroused  all  of  the  tribes  to  bitter  enmity, 
which  lasted  for  a  hundred  years.     Standing  like  a 


20  Champlain 

bulwark  between  the  French  and  the  Enghsh,  they 
stopped  the  encroachment  of  the  French,  and  assisted 
materially  in  destroying  the  new  French  Empire  in 
America. 

I  have  followed  Champlain  from  France  to  the 
Champlain  Valley,  describing  the  battles  with  the 
Mohawks  in  1609  and  have  given  the  usual  inter- 
pretation of  his  manuscript  based  upon  the  degrees 
of  latitude  given,  43°  and  some  minutes,  which  locates 
the  place  of  encounter,  at  or  near  Ticonderoga. 
After  recent  investigation  of  the  shores  of  the  lake, 
a  re-reading  of  the  manuscript  and  a  paper  prepared 
by  Dr.  George  F.  Bixby,  I  am  very  much  impressed 
with  his  ( Bixby 's)  arguments,  which  place  the  scene 
of  the  first  battle  at  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  (Crown 
Point  Peninsula)  instead  of  Ticonderoga. 

Passing  by  the  early  part  of  Champlain's  journey, 
I  will  make  extracts  from  Dr.  Bixby's  paper  which 
bear  on  the  locality  of  the  battle. 

The  party  consisted  of  Champlain  and  t^vo  other 
Frenchmen  and  sixty  savages,  with  twenty-four  birch- 
bark  canoes.  They  set  out  from  the  fall  of  the 
Iroquois  River,  at  Chambly  basin,  on  the  12th  of  July, 
1609.  Champlain  in  his  journal  describes  the  journey 
up  the  Richelieu  and  along  the  west  side  of  the  lake, 
and  proceeds  thus  (Prince  Society's  translation)  : 

"  Now  as  we  began  to  approach  within  two  or 
three  days'  journey  of  the  abode  of  their  enemies 
we  advanced  only  at  night,  resting  during  the  day. 
.  .  .  When  it  was  evening  we  embarked  in  our  canoes 
to  continue  our  course   and,   as   we   advanced   very 


y< 


biD 


Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  21 

quietly  and  without  making  anj^  noise,  we  met  on 
the  29th  of  July  the  Iroquois,  about  ten  o'clock  at 
evening,  at  the  extremity  of  a  cape  which  extends 
into  the  lake  on  the  western  bank  {au  bout  d'un  cap 
qui  advance  dans  le  lac  du  coste  d'  V  Occident). 
They  had  come  to  fight.  We  both  began  to  utter 
loud  cries,  all  getting  their  arms  in  readiness.  We 
withdrew  out  on  the  water,  and  the  Iroquois  went 
on  shore,  where  they  drew  up  all  their  canoes  close 
to  each  other  and  began  to  fell  trees  with  poor  axes, 
which  they  acquire  in  war  sometimes,  using  also 
others  of  stone.  Thus  they  barricaded  themselves 
very  well." 

If  we  consider  Crown  Point  the  place  of  encounter, 
we  can  imagine  that  the  cove  where  the  canoes  of 
the  Iroquois  were  drawn  up  as  being  near  the  site 
of  Old  St.  Frederic  and  their  fort  as  being  on  the 
higher  ground  with  the  forest  close  to  the  bluff. 

"  As  soon  as  we  had  landed,  they  began  to  run 
for  some  two  hundred  paces  toward  their  enemies, 
who  stood  firmly,  not  having  as  yet  noticed  my  com- 
panions, who  went  into  the  woods  with  some  savages." 

Then  follows  the  battle  and  the  killing  of  the  chiefs 
by  Champlain's  gun,  and  the  retreat  of  the  Mohawks. 

"  After  gaining  the  victory  our  men  amused  them- 
selves by  taking  a  great  quantity  of  Indian  corn  and 
some  meal  from  their  enemies ;  also  their  aiTnor,  which 
they  had  left  behind  that  they  might  run  better. 
After  feasting  sumptuously,  dancing  and  singing,  we 
returned  three  hours  after  with  the  prisoners.     The 


22  Champlain 

spot  where  this  attack  took  place  is  in  latitude  43° 
and  some  minutes,  and  the  lake  was  called  Lake 
Champlain." 

In  his  explanation  of  the  map  accompanying  his 
account  of  the  battle,  he  says :  "  The  canoes  of  the 
enemy  were  made  of  oak  bark,  each  holding  ten, 
fifteen,  or  eighteen  men." 

This  is  Champlain's  account  of  the  battle,  and 
he  says,  farther  on,  that  they  returned  down  the 
lake  eight  leagues  the  same  day  and  halted  toward 
evening;  also  that  the  Montagues  had  scalped  all 
those  they  had  killed  in  battle. 

Dr.  Bixby  continues: 

"  Where  is  the  '  cape  which  extends  into  the  lake 
on  the  western  bank,'  that  Champlain  describes  as 
the  scene  of  the  first  battle  of  Lake  Champlain? 
Nearly  all,  if  not  quite  all,  authorities  agree  that  it 
was  at  or  near  the  spot  where  Fort  Ticonderoga  was 
afterward  built,  and  where  its  ruins  now  stand." 

Brodhead  {Hist.  N,  Y.,  vol.  i.,  p.  18)  says:  "  On 
the  map  which  accompanies  his  work,  Champlain 
marks  the  place  where  the  Iroquois  were  defeated  as 
a  promontory  a  little  to  the  northeast  of  a  small  lake 
by  which  one  goes  to  the  Iroquois,  after  having  passed 
Lake  Champlain.  These  particulars  seem  to  iden- 
tify Ticonderoga  as  the  spot  where  the  first  encounter 
took  place  between  the  white  men  and  the  red  men 
on  the  soil  of  New  York." 

Dr.  Bixby  quotes  numerous  other  authorities,  but 
none  of  them  agree  on  the  exact  spot,  but  all  seem  to 
locate  the  scene  of  the  battle  at  or  near  Ticonderoga. 


ri 


Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  23 

Dr.  Bixby  says: 

"  This  is  a  strong  array  of  authorities  which  it  may 
be  presumptuous  to  question,  but  attention  is  called 
to  a  few  plain  facts  bearing  on  the  matter.  Cham- 
plain's  maps,  his  picture  of  the  battle,  and  his  jour- 
nal, together  with  the  natural  conformation  of  the 
western  shore  of  the  lake,  are  the  chief  points  of 
interest  in  the  case. 

"  On  this  great  map  Lake  Champlain  appears  with 
its  islands  and  rivers  and  outlines,  drawn  as  near  na- 
ture as  one  might  expect  from  data  gathered  during 
one  trip  through  it  with  a  war  party  of  savages. 
On  the  west  side,  three  rivers,  only,  are  marked  on 
this  map  north  of  the  outlet  of  Lake  George.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  Champlain  travelled  up  the 
lake  on  the  west  side,  and  verj^  slowly,  taking  seven- 
teen days  from  Chambly  basin  to  reach  the  scene 
of  the  battle — only  about  seven  miles  a  day.  Here, 
then,  on  this  western  shore,  if  anywhere,  we  may 
certainly  expect  accurate  mapping,  and,  more  espe- 
cially, when  it  is  remembered  that  Champlain  dis- 
tinguished this  lake  above  all  other  localities  which 
he  discovered  or  explored,  by  giving  it  his  own  name." 

Dr.  Bixby  continues: 

"  What  three  rivers  are  these  which  he  marks  ?  He 
would  hardly  have  missed  the  great  Chazy  River, 
with  its  broad  estuary,  for  the  most  northerly  one. 
Going  southward  he  would  naturally  pass  the  hidden 
mouth  of  the  Saranac  River,  three  miles  westward 
from  Cumberland  Head,  across  Cumberland  Bay, 
and  he  might  easily  have  missed  it,  as  he  did  the 


24  Champlain 

mouth  of  the  Merrimac  in  passing  down  the  At- 
lantic coast  in  1605.  The  great  Au  Sable  River  he 
could  hardly  have  failed  of  seeing,  and  he  must,  un- 
doubtedly, have  seen  the  Boquet  River,  which  has 
the  appearance  at  its  mouth  of  being  the  largest 
of  the  three  mentioned,  although  it  is  the  smallest. 
The  three  rivers,  then,  which  Champlain  marked  for 
the  west  side  of  the  lake  were,  probably,  the  Chazy, 
the  Au  Sable,  and  the  Boquet,  there  being  no  river 
between  the  most  southerly  one,  the  Boquet,  and 
Ticonderoga  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  George.  On  his 
map  Champlain  marked  the  '  cape  which  extends 
into  the  lake  on  the  western  side,'  veiy  distinctly,  and 
placed  by  it  the  figure  65,  referring  to  his  explana- 
tion of  this  as  '  the  place  on  Lac  Champlain  where 
the  Iroquois  were  defeated.'  Now  this  cape,  the  only 
one  marked  on  the  western  side  of  the  lake  on  Cham- 
plain's  map,  is  represented  on  that  map  as  being 
about  equi-distant  from  Lake  George  and  the  south- 
ernmost of  the  three  rivers,  the  Boquet,  which  is  about 
forty-five  miles  north  of  the  outlet  of  Lake  George, 
or  Ticonderoga;  Crown  Point  being  between  these 
points,  about  fourteen  miles  north  from  Ticonderoga. 
The  testimony  of  the  map,  then,  seems  conclusive 
against  the  hypothesis  that  the  battle  was  at  Ticon- 
deroga, which  lies  directly  at  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George. 

"  We  next  come  to  the  journal  of  Champlain,  and 
his  description  of  the  scene  of  the  battle :  '  The  ex- 
tremity of  a  cape  which  extends  into  the  lake  on  the 
western  bank.'     Now,  there  is  no  spot  in  the  vicinity 


Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  25 

of  Ticonderoga  or  between  Crown  Point  and  Ticon- 
deroga  which  answers  to  this  description,  the  httle 
jutting  points  along  that  shore  having  no  resemblance 
to  capes  extending  into  the  lake." 

In  regard  to  the  Ticonderoga  site  the  Doctor  says : 

"  The  place  which  has  been  designated  as  the  scene 
of  the  battle  is  about  half  a  mile  north  of  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga. Here  the  shore  trends  to  the  southeast  for 
a  short  distance,  but  there  is  no  cape  there.  The 
water  there  is  shallow  all  along  the  shore,  being 
marked  on  the  United  States  Coast  Survey  as  only 
six  inches  deep,  and  it  will  be  readily  seen  that  the 
heavy  oak-bark  canoes  of  the  Iroquois,  each  carrying 
ten  to  eighteen  persons,  could  not  have  landed  there." 

As  this  expedition  was  undertaken  about  the  mid- 
dle of  July  the  lake  was  probably  at  its  normal  depth. 
During  flood  time  it  is  much  deeper. 

"  Where  then  was  it  fought  ? 

"  I  believe  all  the  reliable  evidence  in  the  case  points 
to  Crown  Point,  where  the  French  erected  Fort  St. 
Frederic,  their  extreme  outpost  in  1731,  the  ruins  of 
which,  with  enclosing  earthworks,  are  still  visible  near 
the  northern  shore,  while  farther  inland  stand  the 
stone  barracks  of  the  Amlierst  fort. 

"  Here  is  a  locality  w^hich  perfectly  answers  to 
Champlain's  description  of  '  a  cape  which  extends  into 
the  lake  on  the  western  bank,'  and  here  is  the  only 
spot,  at  the  extremity  of  the  cape,  and  thence  around 
to  the  head  of  Bay  St.  Frederic,  as  the  French 
named  it,  now  Bulwagga  Bay,  where  the  western 
shore  trends  to  the  northward,  and  the  only  spot  on 


26  Champlain 

the  western  side  of  that  part  of  Lake  Champlain, 
where  a  skilled  warrior  like  Champlain,  and  savages 
like  his  allies,  would  have  been  likely  to  attack  their 
foes  from  the  left  and  north,  rather  than  from  the 
right  and  south.  In  fact  this  is  the  only  point  along 
the  entire  west  shore  of  Lake  Champlain  where  the 
shore  line  takes  a  northerly  direction,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Willsborough  Point,  about  thirty  miles  north 
of  Crown  Point,  where  the  shore  is  a  precipitous  bluff. 
Crown  Point  also  corresponds  with  Champlain's  map. 
Take  the  United  States  Coast  Survey  of  the  lake 
and  reduce  it  to  the  scale  of  Champlain's  map,  and 
Crown  Point  stands  out  as  distinctly  beyond  the  gen- 
eral shore  line  as  does  the  cape  which  is  marked  on 
Champlain's  map,  as  the  location  of  the  battle,  and 
Crown  Point  also  approximates  in  position  to  this 
cape,  marked  on  Champlain's  map  as  between  Ticon- 
deroga  and  the  Boquet  River. 

"  Again,  all  the  old  French  maps  marked  Bul- 
wagga  Bay,  the  shore  of  which  terminates  in  Crown 
Point,  as  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  that  por- 
tion southward  as  Wood  Creek.  The  lake  above  this 
point  certainly  partakes  more  of  the  character  of  a 
river  than  a  lake,  especially  from  Crown  Point  to 
Ticonderoga,  being  but  a  little  over  a  mile  wide  in 
the  entire  distance  of  fourteen  miles,  while  at  some 
points  it  is  only  a  third  of  a  mile  wide.  Is  it  pos- 
sible that  so  close  an  observer  as  Champlain,  acting 
under  his  king's  command  would  have  neglected  to 
mention  this  remarkable  change  in  the  contour  of  the 
lake,  had  he  traversed  this  portion,  or  that  he  would 


Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  27 

not  have  called  it  a  river,  as  he  called  the  outlet  a 
river  as  far  south  as  Rouse  Point  or  Windmill 
Point,  although  that  outlet  for  thirty  miles  below 
Rouse  Point  averages  nearly  or  quite  as  wide  as 
does  this  part  of  the  lake  between  Crown  Point  and 
Ticonderoga? 

"  The  fact  that  on  his  map  no  indication  appears 
of  this  remarkable  narrowing  of  the  lake  into  a  river 
certainly  affords  good  basis  for  the  assumption  that 
he  never  saw  this  portion  of  the  lake,  and  that  Crown 
Point  was  the  southern  limit  of  his  exploration  of 
Lake  Champlain.  JNIark  in  this  connection  Cham- 
plain's  language  already  quoted :  '  The  spot  where 
this  attack  took  place  was  in  latitude  43°  and  some 
minutes,  and  the  lake  was  called  Lake  Champlain.' 
Thus  the  evidence  of  the  journal  and  the  map  and 
the  battle  picture  indicate  that  Crown  Point,  and  not 
Ticonderoga,  was  the  scene  of  the  battle." 

Here  I  think  Dr.  Bixby  makes  a  strong  point  but 
dwells  upon  it  too  briefly. 

Champlain's  drawing  of  the  battle  places  the  Iro- 
quois at  the  right  of  the  Montagues,  and  he  relates 
that  his  party  came  upon  them  suddenly,  both  parties 
in  their  canoes,  on  the  lake  near  the  shore,  and  that 
they  were  so  surprised  that  the  Iroquois  made  for 
the  shore  while  the  Montagues  paddled  into  the  lake. 
This  meeting  took  place  at  ten  o'clock  at  night.  The 
Iroquois  at  once  arranged  their  canoes  and  threw  up 
a  barricade  of  trees,  probably  for  protection  against 
attack  by  night,  as  it  does  not  appear  that  they  used 
their  simple  fort  during  the  battle.     The  picture  of 


2  8  Champlain 

the  battle  shows  that  Champlain  took  his  position  to 
the  left  of  the  Iroquois  whose  number  exceeded  the 
Champlain  party  three  to  one. 

This  position  was  undoubtedly  taken  by  Champlain 
in  order  to  retreat  the  way  they  had  come,  or  down 
the  lake  to  the  north  if  they  were  defeated.  This 
was  undoubtedly  done  after  deliberation,  as  they  had 
the  whole  night  before  them.  With  the  over- 
whelming force  against  them,  Champlain  would 
not  have  taken  his  position  toward  the  enemy's 
country. 

If  the  attack  was  made  near  Ticonderoga  they 
would  not  have  taken  a  position  south  of  the  Iroquois 
because  in  case  of  defeat  they  would  have  been  in  a 
trap  and  totally  annihilated.  Dr.  Bixby  says  that 
Crown  Point's  west  shore  is  the  only  place  on  the 
lake  where  the  Montagues  could  take  a  position  on 
the  left,  that  would  allow  him  to  retreat  to  the  north 
in  case  of  defeat.  This  I  think  is  a  strong  point 
and  one  that  has  not  received  the  attention  it  deserves. 

Dr.  Bixby  calls  attention  to  many  errors  Champlain 
made  in  taking  the  latitude  with  his  primitive  as- 
trolabe and  says: 

"  Thus,  in  Champlain's  first  exploration  in  Canada 
in  1604,  he  marked  the  harbor  of  St.  Margaret,  now 
Weymouth  harbor,  on  the  southern  shore  of  St. 
Marj'^'s  Bay,  as  in  latitude  45°  30',  an  error  of  1° 
7';  the  true  latitude  of  the  island  of  St.  Croix  is  45° 
37'  and  he  made  it  46°  40',  an  error  of  1°  3'.  He 
made  a  point  in  the  Richelieu  River  north  of  Chambly 
basin  in  latitude  45°,  an  error  of  some  45'." 


5 


Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  29 

Dr.  Bixby  surely  brings  forward  strong  arguments 
to  enforce  his  claim.  That  he  will  be  able  to 
establish  his  theory  after  all  of  these  centuries  is 
somewhat  doubtful. 

You  will  remember  that  Champlain  in  his  journal 
says  that  the  Indians  told  him:  "It  was  necessary 
to  pass  a  fall  to  go  there  "  and  in  parenthesis,  "  (which 
I  saw  afterwards)." 

The  fall  referred  to  must  have  been  the  fall  on 
Ticonderoga  Creek.  Everybody  concedes  that.  Bixby 
explains  that  he  did  not  say  that  he  saw  the  falls, 
and  that  Champlain  meant  that  "  afterwards  he  saw 
that  it  was  necessary  to  pass  the  falls,"  in  going  to 
the  Mohawks'  countiy,  and  that  probably  he  learned 
it  through  the  Iroquois  prisoners. 

If  the  battle  was  at  Crown  Point  he  surely  did  not 
see  the  falls.  This  had  been  a  strenuous  day.  Pre- 
paration had  been  made  after  daylight;  the  approach 
was  deliberate,  although  the  attack  was  probably  of 
short  duration;  a  pursuit  was  had  through  the  woods, 
but  in  the  end  the  Montagues  were  glad  to  get  away 
quickly  from  their  formidable  enemies;  they  paddled 
twenty- four  miles  (eight  leagues)  down  the  lake, 
made  camp,  and  tortured  their  prisoners  "  and  still 
it  was  only  towards  evening."  Champlain  did  not 
have  much  time  for  exploration  and  was  only  too 
glad  to  put  distance  between  his  party  and  the 
terrible  Mohawks. 

Many  pages  have  been  written  of  Samuel  de  Cham- 
plain, as  an  explorer,  colonizer,  soldier,  and  a  devout 


2,0  Champlain 

churchman,  but  little  has  been  told  of  his  early  life, 
or  his  domestic  life  in  New  France. 

We  are  told  that  when  about  forty-two  years  old, 
having  been  born  between  1567  and  1570,  he  entered 
into  contract  of  marriage  with  Helene  Boulle,  a  girl 
of  twelve  j^ears  (born  1598)  daughter  of  Nicolas 
Boulle,  private  secretary  to  King  Henry  IV.  ( Henry 
of  Navarre). 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Champlain,  in  1600, 
made  a  voyage  to  the  Caribbean  Sea,  touching  the 
Venezuelan  coast  and  visiting  the  City  of  Mexico, 
returning  to  France  the  latter  part  of  the  same  year, 
covered  with  laurels  as  a  sailor  and  explorer.  All 
at  once  he  became  a  noted  man.  King  Henry,  always 
quick  to  discern  merit,  formed  a  liking  for  the 
straight-forward  and  enterprising  young  traveller, 
and  out  of  the  royal  funds,  settled  on  Champlain  a 
small  but  assured  life  income  to  enable  him  to  live 
at  court. 

Here  he  became  a  gentleman  of  leisure,  frequently 
coming  in  contact  with  the  King  and  the  notables  of 
France  and  necessarily  the  society  of  the  ladies  of 
that  profligate  court.  Helene  Boulle,  the  daughter 
of  the  King's  private  secretary,  must  have  known 
many  of  the  ladies  of  the  court  of  France,  noted  in 
history. 

Helene  was  born  a  Huguenot,  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  her  father.  Although  a  child  she  must  have 
been  familiar  with  the  personal  appearance  of  many 
of  the  celebrated  women  of  the  court  of  Henry  IV., 
]Margaret    de    Valois,    the    sensuous    wife    of    the 


Hel^ne  de  Champlain  31 

King,  Gabrielle  d'Estrees,  his  mistress,  and  INIarie 
de'  Medici,  his  second  wife.  At  this  period  King 
Henry  had  renounced  his  rehgion  and  had  become 
a  Catholic  king. 

On  a  wintry  IVIonday,  in  December,  1610,  a  group 
of  people  were  gathered  in  a  dingy  law  ofRce  in 
Paris  to  sign  a  contract  of  betrothal  between  Helene 
Boulle,  a  child  of  twelve  years,  and  Samuel  de  Cham- 
plain,  a  soldierly  looking  man  of  forty-two  years. 

The  romance  of  the  courtship  could  not  have  lasted 
more  than  a  few  weeks,  but  as  Helene  was  still  a 
mere  slip  of  a  girl  it  was  arranged  that,  although  a 
marriage  contract  should  be  signed,  and  a  formal 
ceremony  performed,  she  should  continue  for  two 
years  to  live  with  her  parents. 

Tw^o  days  later  in  the  historic  old  Church  of  St. 
Germain  I'Auxerrois  a  ceremony  of  betrothal  was 
performed,  followed  the  next  day,  December  30th,  by 
the  formal  ceremony  of  marriage.  Helene  went  back 
to  the  home  of  her  parents,  and  Champlain  turned 
his  steps  again  to  New  France. 

In  May,  1611  Champlain  went  up  the  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  rapids,  and  in  the  vicinitj^  of  Montreal 
he  named  an  island  "  St.  Helene  "  for  his  little  be- 
trothed, who  at  the  time  was  demurely  going  to 
school  at  an  Ursuline  convent  in  Paris. 

Champlain,  in  his  frequent  voyages  to  France,  saw 
as  much  as  possible  of  his  child-wife.  At  the  time 
of  her  betrothal  she  was  a  Huguenot  and  continued 
to  follow  the  religion  of  her  father,  but  Champlain 
was   a   sincere,   though   never   a   bigoted,    Catholic. 


32  Champlain 

Under  the  teachings  of  the  nuns,  and  the  influence 
of  her  husband,  her  plastic  mind  was  moulded  to  his 
own  belief,  but  it  was  not  until  1620  that  he  brought 
his  young  Catholic  wife  to  Quebec,  where  she  remained 
for  four  years. 

It  is  said  that  Quebec  presented  a  veiy  forlorn  and 
desolate  appearance  to  the  beautiful  young  French 
girl.  "  The  buildings  were  falling  to  ruin,  the  court- 
yard was  squalid  and  dilapidated,  her  companions, 
the  swarthy,  half -naked  Indians  and  coureurs  de  hois, 
and  the  dirty  squaws.  It  is  true  that  there  were  a  few 
nuns  that  could  speak  French,  and  were  congenial 
companions  to  Madame  Helene  Champlain,  but  for 
the  four  years  that  she  remained  in  Canada,  her  time 
was  passed  chiefly  in  admonishing  dusky  squaws  and 
catechising  their  children.  On  her  return  to  France 
in  1624-25  she  desired  to  become  a  nun.  Champlain 
refused,  but  as  she  was  childless,  he  at  length  con- 
sented to  a  virtual,  though  not  a  formal  separation." 

After  his  death,  however,  she  gained  her  wish,  be- 
came an  Ursuline  nun,  and  while  yet  a  novice  founded 
a  convent  at  Meaux.  She  died  at  this  convent,  on 
December  20,  1654,  with  a  reputation  almost  saintly. 


CHAPTER  III 

HENRY    HUDSON — HUDSON'S    RIVER — RIVERS    OF    LAKE 
CHAMPLAIN 

LJENRY  HUDSON  was  bom  about  the  middle 
^  ^  of  the  sixteenth  century.  As  a  navigator  he  was 
first  employed  b}^  some  English  merchants.  His  first 
voyage  as  explorer  was  made  in  1607,  as  the  records 
say  that  he  sailed  from  Gravesend  on  May  1,  1607, 
in  a  small  vessel  manned  by  only  ten  men  and  a  boy 
— the  latter  being  his  son — his  object  being  the  myth- 
ical north-west  passage  to  India,  that  ignis  fatuus 
of  the  navigator,  which,  though  illusive,  led  to  many 
notable  discoveries. 

He  coasted  along  the  eastern  coast  of  Greenland 
until  stopped  by  the  ice  pack,  and  fought  ice-floes 
and  storms  for  many  weeks,  and  then  returned  to 
England,  in  September,  the  only  fruit  of  his  voyage 
being  the  discovery  of  the  island  of  Spitzbergen. 
Neither  he  nor  his  employers  were  disheartened,  and 
late  in  April,  1608,  he  sailed  again,  expecting  to  make 
a  passage  between  Spitzbergen  and  Nova  Zembla  to 
the  east,  but  was  again  compelled  to  turn  back.  His 
employers  were  now  discouraged  and  Hudson  went 
over  to  Holland  and  offered  his  services  to  the  Dutch 

3  33 


34  Henry  Hudson 

East  India  Company,  which  they  accepted.  In 
April,  1609,  he  sailed  from  Amsterdam  in  the  Halve- 
Maen  (Half-Moon) ,  a  staunch  vessel  of  ninety  tons, 
and  steered  for  Nova  Zembla,  still  attempting  to  find 
a  north-east  passage  to  India.  Again  he  failed  to 
make  his  way  through  the  ice.  Determined  not  to 
return  to  Amsterdam  with  his  task  unaccomplished, 
he  sailed  around  the  southern  shores  of  Greenland, 
still  searching  for  a  north-west  passage.  Again  he 
was  repulsed  by  the  ice.  Sailing  southward,  he  dis- 
covered the  American  continent  off  the  coast  of 
Maine,  and  in  Casco  Bay  repaired  his  ship.  Still 
ciaiising  southward  he  discovered  the  Cape  of  Vir- 
ginia. Returning  northward  he  entered  the  New 
York  Bay  on  September  2d,  and  on  September  12th 
entered  as  "  beautiful  a  river  as  could  be  found,"  and 
on  September  19th  came  to  anchor  near  the  site  of 
the  present  city  of  Albany,  still  searching  for  the 
north-west  passage.  A  further  exploration  by  some 
of  the  crew  in  small  boats,  leagues  farther  north,  dis- 
abused the  mind  of  Hudson  of  the  theory  that  he 
had  found  the  gate  to  India. 

He  remained  at  this  spot  until  the  23d,  when  he 
weighed  anchor  and  dropped  down  the  river  about 
six  miles.  In  the  morning  he  continued  down  the 
river,  stopping  occasionally  to  fish  and  trade,  and,  as 
he  records,  to  fight  off  the  Indians  who  came  out  to 
his  vessel  at  various  places,  until,  on  October  4th, 
"  we  came  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  great  river." 

In  reading  the  diary  of  his  encounters  with  the 
Aborigines,  I  cannot  resist  the  thought  that  in  many 


Hudson's  River  35 

instances  he  displayed  unnecessaiy  cruelt}^  to  the  In- 
dians, not  in  repelHng  their  attacks  but  prompted  by 
the  fear  that  they  would  attack. 

On  October  5th  he  sailed  for  England,  where  he 
arrived  on  November  7,  1609,  and  where  he  was 
detained  bj^  King  James  as  an  English  subject,  for 
the  monarch  expected  to  derive  benefit  from  Hud- 
son's discoveries.  Hudson,  however,  had  sent  the  ac- 
count of  his  discoveries  to  the  Dutch  employers,  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company,  and  therefore  defeated 
the  object  of  King  James  I.  for  the  time  being.  Hud- 
son named  the  river,  Grande  River.  In  1615  it  was 
called  Prince  JNIaurice's  River;  later,  the  River  ]Mau- 
ritius,  JNIanhattan  River;  in  1633,  North  River,  and 
March  12,  1664,  was  officially  called  Hudson's  River 
by  Charles  II. 

Thus,  in  the  same  year  and  almost  the  same  month, 
Hudson  and  Champlain  entered  into  the  INIohawks' 
country.     Sylvester  in  his  Northern  New  York  says : 

"  From  these  explorations  by  navigators  in  the  in- 
terests of  rival  powers,  there  sprang  up  conflicting 
claims  to  the  territory  of  northern  New  York.  Out 
of  these  claims  arose  a  long  series  of  bloody  conflicts 
between  the  French  and  the  English  and  their  re- 
spective allies,  of  which  the  soil  of  northern  New 
York,  and  particularly  that  of  Lake  George  and 
Lake  Champlain,  formed  the  battle-ground,  or  the 
avenue  by  which  the  battle-fields  were  reached,  until 
the  brave  Montcalm  yielded  to  the  chivalrous  Wolfe 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  afterward  on  the  plains 
of  Abraham. 


36  Henry  Hudson 

"  Since  these  discoveries  and  explorations  three 
centuries  have  passed  away,  and  how  manifold  and 
vast  are  now  the  human  interests  that  lie  stretched 
along  lakes  and  rivers,  which  are  still  linked  with 
the  names  of  those  three  kindred  spirits  of  the  olden 
time,  romance-loving  explorers,  each  immortalized 
by  his  discoveries — Jacques  Cartier,  Samuel  de 
Champlain,  and  Henry  Hudson." 

But  cruelty  to  Aborigines  seems  to  have  been  char- 
acteristic of  the  acts  of  the  early  explorers  in  their 
efforts  to  civilize  the  natives  of  the  New  World. 
Even  the  followers  of  Columbus  were  not  guiltless  in 
their  treatment  of  the  mild  natives  of  Hispaniola 
which,  as  in  the  case  of  Champlain,  aroused  the  In- 
dians to  retaliation,  and  led  to  horrible  atrocities. 

Among  the  rivers  that  fall  into  Lake  Champlain 
are  the  Chazy,  the  Boquet,  the  Sable,  and  the  Saranac. 

The  Boquet  River  rises  in  the  deep  gorge  of  the 
Hunter's  Pass,  which  lies  across  the  Boquet  moun- 
tain range  between  Mounts  Dix  (4976)  and  Nipple 
Top  (4644).  The  bottom  of  this  mountain  gorge 
is  3247  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea  and  in  it  also 
rises  the  Scarron  River,  that  flows  in  a  contrary 
direction  into  the  Hudson. 

The  Boquet,  which  like  the  Scarron  gives  its  name 
to  one  of  the  five  mountain  ranges  of  the  Wilderness, 
is  said  to  derive  its  name  from  the  French  word 
haquet,  a  trough.  This  was  suggested  by  the  fancied 
resemblance  of  the  contour  of  its  bed  in  its  estuary 
at  its  mouth.     It  was  in  this  estuary  that  General 


Rivers  of  Lake  Champlain  37 

Burgoyne  rested  his  army  for  some  days  in  treaty 
with  his  Indian  alHes. 

The  Au  Sable,  the  twin  sister  of  the  Hudson,  in 
the  awful  abyss  of  the  Indian  Pass,  was  named  by 
the  French  in  allusion  to  its  sandy  bed  near  its  mouth, 
from  sablCj,  the  French  word,  as  the  reader  knows, 
for  sand,  gravel,  etc. 

On  the  headwaters  of  the  Au  Sable,  under  the 
shadows  of  the  old  giants  of  the  Adirondack  range 
lies  the  little  hamlet  of  North  Elba  now  so  famous 
as  the  forest  home  of  John  Brown  of  Ossawatomie 
memory. 

On  this  river  three  miles  from  Port  Kent,  is  the 
celebrated  Au  Sable  Chasm. 

The  Saranac  flow^s  from  the  chain  of  lakes  of  the 
same  name,  which  are  well  known  and  frequented  by 
tourists. 

From  the  Vermont  side  we  have  the  Missesquoiat 
at  the  extreme  end  of  the  lake  opposite  Rouses  Point, 
the  Lamoille,  the  Winooski,  Otter  Creek,  and  other 
small  streams  and  at  the  extreme  southern  end  near 
Whitehall,  the  Poultney  River. 


CHAPTER  IV 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  MOHAWKS FIRST  EXPEDITION 

OF  TRACY DROWNING  OF  CORLEAR ISAAC  JOGUES 

LAC  DU  ST.  SACREMENT NAMING  OF  THE  RIVER 

CHAZY — SECOND  EXPEDITION   OF  DE   TRACY 

CADWALLADER  GOLDEN,  once  Lieutenant- 
Governor  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  was 
regarded  as  the  best  informed  man  in  the  New  World, 
on  the  affairs  of  the  British- American  Colonies.  He 
says: 

"  The  French  settled  in  Canada  in  the  year  1603, 
six  years  before  the  Dutch  possessed  themselves  of 
New  Netherlands,  now  called  New  York,  and  found 
the  Iroquois  at  war  with  the  Adirondacks,  the  dis- 
tinctive name  of  a  tribe  of  Algonquin  Indians  in 
Canada,  which,  they  tell  us,  was  occasioned  in  the 
following  manner: 

"  The  Adirondacks  formerly  lived  three  hundred 
miles  above  Trois  River  (Three  Rivers)  where  now 
the  Ottawas  are  situated;  at  that  time  they  emploj^ed 
themselves  wholly  in  hunting,  and  the  Iroquois  made 
planting  of  corn  their  business.  By  this  means  they 
became  useful  to  each  other  b}^  exchanging  corn  for 
venison.     The  Adirondacks,  however,  were  proud  of 

38 


Early  History  of  the  Mohawks  39 

their  more  manly  employment,  and  despised  the  Iro- 
quois for  following  a  life  or  business  that  was  de- 
grading to  a  warrior,  and  which  they  thought  was 
only  fit  for  women. 

"  But  it  once  happened  that  the  game  failed  the 
Adirondacks,  and  they  asked  some  of  the  young  Iro- 
quois to  assist  them  with  their  hunting,  in  order  to 
provide  food  for  their  families.  These  young  Iro- 
quois soon  became  much  more  expert  in  hunting  and 
better  able  to  endure  fatigue  than  the  Adirondacks  ex- 
pected or  desired,  and  they  became  jealous  of  them, 
and  one  night  murdered  all  the  young  Iroquois  they 
had  with  them.  The  Iroquois  (or  the  ^lohawks) 
complained  to  the  chiefs  of  the  Adirondacks  of  this 
inhuman  act,  but  they  contented  themselves  with  lay- 
ing the  blame  on  the  murderers,  and  ordered  them 
to  make  some  small  presents  (which  was  a  custom 
among  the  Indians)  to  the  relatives  of  the  murdered 
youths,  without  being  apprehensive  of  the  resentment 
of  the  Mohawks;  for,  at  that  time,  the}''  looked  upon 
them  as  men  not  capable  of  taking  any  great  revenge. 

"  This,  however,  provoked  the  JNIohawks  to  that  de- 
gree that  they  resolved  by  some  means  to  be  revenged ; 
and  the  Adirondacks  being  informed  of  their  inten- 
tions, thought  to  prevent  them  by  reducing  them  by 
force  to  their  obedience. 

"  The  ]Mohawks,  who  then  lived  near  where  the  city 
of  INIontreal  now  stands,  defended  themselves  at  first 
but  faintly  against  the  vigorous  attacks  of  the  Adi- 
rondacks, who  forced  them  to  leave  their  own  coun- 
try and  hide  themselves  in  the  forests  of  the  INIohawk 


40  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

Valley  a  number  of  miles  north  of  the  Mohawk  River. 
(Two  or  three  camps  have,  in  late  years,  been  found, 
each  about  five  miles  north  of  the  river,  one  on  the 
Cayadutta  and  another  on  the  Garoga  Creek.  From 
the  absence  of  all  metal  tools  or  articles  of  European 
manufacture,  these  are  thought  to  have  been  the  early 
homes  of  the  wanderers,  a  decade  or  two  before  1609.) 
Having  heretofore  been  losers  in  war,  they  applied 
themselves  to  the  exercise  of  arms,  in  which  they 
daily  became  more  and  more  expert.  Their  sachems, 
in  order  to  raise  these  embryo  warriors'  spirits,  turned 
them  against  the  Satanas  (probably  Shawnees),  a 
less  warlike  tribe,  who  lived  on  the  banks  of  the 
lakes.  The  Mohawks  soon  subdued  this  tribe  and 
drove  them  out  of  their  country  and  their  confidence 
in  their  own  prowess  being  thus  raised,  they  defended 
themselves  bravely  against  their  old  enemy  the  Adi- 
rondacks,  and  often  carried  the  war  into  their  own 
country  with  such  vigor  that  they  forced  them,  at 
last,  to  leave  it  and  establish  themselves  in  that  part 
of  the  country  where  Quebec  was  afterward  built. 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Champlain  and  his 
people  arrived  and  settled  Quebec,  and  being  de- 
sirous of  gaining  the  friendship  of  the  Adirondacks, 
offered  to  go  with  a  war  party  against  the  Mohawks. 
The  battle  which  subsequently  took  place,  in  which 
the  Adirondacks,  with  the  assistance  of  Champlain, 
defeated  the  Mohawks,  has  been  described  in  a  former 
chapter. 

About  this  time  the  Mohawks  were  able  to  procure 
firearms  from  the  Dutch,  and,  being  well  disciplined 


-I-        _H 


Isaac  Jogues  41 

and  great  strategists,  and  being  led  by  skilful  chiefs, 
were  enabled,  in  subsequent  years,  to  defeat  and 
totally  annihilate  their  ancient  enemies,  the  Adi- 
rondacks. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  characters  of  the  early 
settlement  of  the  New  World,  at  once  a  scholar, 
priest,  and  a  Christian  in  the  broadest  sense  of  the 
word,  honest,  brave,  self-sacrificing,  who  made  his 
whole  life  a  martja'dom,  for  whom  no  hardship  was  too 
great,  no  suffering  too  severe,  if  it  led  to  the  saving 
of  a  soul  from  hell,  a  disciple  of  Loyola,  whose  last 
Mords  were,  "  Be  thou  unto  the  Church  as  it  were  a 
corpse,"  was  Isaac  Jogues,  martyr  and  saint.  Of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  to  which  he  belonged  Francis  Park- 
man  has  said :  "  There  never  was  a  society  of  men 
in  whom  there  was  so  much  to  admire  and  so  much 
to  detest  as  the  Jesuits." 

Of  all  the  Jesuits  of  America  who  lost  their  lives 
in  the  service  of  the  Church,  Jogues  and  Jean  Bre- 
beuf  deserve  special  mention.  They  were  scholars 
and  gentlemen.  Jogues  was  fitted  for  the  drawing- 
room  or  the  university;  Brebeuf  was  a  cavalier,  a 
soldier.  Jogues  was  a  delicate  personality,  all  ner\^es 
and  compact  muscles  of  steel;  Brebeuf,  a  perfect 
specimen  of  handsome,  muscular  humanity.  Bre- 
beuf lost  his  life  through  fiendish  torture  by  fire  in 
the  north  Huron  country;  Jogues  was  killed  in  the 
Mohawk  valley  by  a  stroke  of  a  hatchet  which  cleft 
his  brain.  Both,  however,  suffered  death  by  the 
hands  of  the  Mohawks.     The  story  of  Jogues's  death, 


42  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

in  all  of  its  gruesome  details,  has  been  told  so  often 
that  I  will  not  repeat  it  here. 

Sylvester  has  said:  "In  olden  time,  in  the  vast 
wilderness  of  the  northern  Continent  from  the 
frozen  ocean  to  the  flowery  gulfland,  many  bright, 
fair  lakes  lay  sleeping  in  its  awful  solitudes,  their 
waters  flashing  like  gleaming  mirrors,  lighting  the 
sombre  desolation  like  jewels  in  an  iron  crown;  but 
the  fairest  and  brightest  of  them  all  was  Lake  George. 

"  It  was  a  gem  in  the  old  wilderness.  Of  the  thou- 
sand lakes  that  adorn  the  surface  of  northern  New 
York,  there  is  none  among  them  all  to-day  so  fair, 
none  among  them  all  so  like  '  a  diadem  of  beauty ' 
as  Lake  George — its  deepest  waters  as  bright  and 
pure  as  the  dew-drops  that  linger  on  its  lilies." 

In  August,  1642,  Father  Isaac  Jogues,  Rene 
Goupil,  and  Guillame  Couture,  all  of  whom  were  tor- 
tured to  death  in  the  Mohawk  Valley  within  the  space 
of  four  years,  paddled  over  Lake  George,  the  first 
white  men  to  gaze  on  its  unrivalled  beauty. 

During  the  year  1642  Rene  Goupil  met  his  death 
by  the  hands  of  their  captors.  Jogues,  however,  es- 
caped, maimed  and  scarred,  to  France. 

Returning  to  his  labors  undismayed  and  undaunted, 
he  journeyed  to  the  Mohawks'  country,  in  1646,  as  an 
honored  peace  ambassador,  and  was  received  by  the 
IMohawks,  with  tokens  of  honor  and  friendship.  It 
was  on  this  his  second  voyage  over  the  lake,  that  he 
named  it  "  Lac  du  St.  Sacrement,"  because  he  reached 
it  on  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi.  Invited  by  the 
Mohawks    to    live    among   them   and    establish    the 


Lac  du  St.  Sacrement  43 

Mission  of  the  Martyrs,  he  departed  for  Canada  as  a 
messenger  of  peace.  In  the  autumn  he  returned  to 
the  JNIohawk  valley  full  of  zeal  and  energy,  only  to 
meet  death  by  the  stroke  of  a  hatchet,  a  martyr  to  his 
faith  and  duty/ 

Lac  du  St.  Sacrement  is  a  name  given  by  Father 
Isaac  Jogues  to  that  body  of  water,  which  was  in 
1755  changed  to  Lake  George  by  General  Sir 
William  Johnson.  It  was  called  Horicon  by 
Cooper,  a  corruption  of  the  word  Hirocois,  which 
is  the  old  spelling  given  to  Lake  Iroquois  by  the 
French  as  early  as  1610.  The  name  Hirocois  was 
also  applied  to  the  river  Richelieu,  as  the  "  River 
of  the  Iroquois." 

You  may  look  through  all  of  the  vocabularies  of 
the  French  and  Indian  tongues  and  you  will  fail  to 
find  a  more  beautiful  name  for  this  beautiful  lake 
than  that  given  by  Jogues  in  his  religious  fervor,  on 
May  28,  1646,  when  for  the  second  time  he  passed 
up  its  attenuated  length  as  an  ambassador  of  peace 
to  the  Mohawks. 

This  journey  was  one  of  pleasure  and  high  resolve. 
He  had  passed  through  torture  by  savages  and 
through  suffering  and  privation  at  the  hands  of  un- 
sympathetic white  men.  Once  accorded  the  scant 
hospitality  of  a  beggar  and  an  outcast,  when  he  pre- 
sented himself  to  his  Jesuit  brothers  in  France,  he 
had  subsequently  been  received  by  them  and  by  the 

1  The  capture  and  suffering  of  Father  Jogues  is  told  in  the 
Mohawk  Valley,  page  41. 


44  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

Archbishop  of  Paris  with  sympathy  and  high  honors, 
had  had  his  maimed  hand  kissed  by  the  Queen,  and 
the  court  of  France,  and  had  a  special  dispen- 
sation granted  him  by  Pope  Urban  VIII.  that 
removed  the  ban  which  prevented  a  priest  whose 
hands  were  mangled  from  celebrating  the  Holy 
Sacrament. 

Did  not  this  thought,  together  with  the  coming  of 
the  feast-day  of  Corpus  Christi,  influence  Jogues  in 
selecting  this  name,  Lac  du  St.  Sacrement,  for  the 
lake  that  he  had  discovered  and  which  had  witnessed 
his  direst  despair  and  his  greatest  exaltation  as  a 
messenger  of  peace,  the  apostle  of  the  Mission  of 
the  Martyrs  to  the  Mohawks? 

I  think  so.  I  wish  the  name  had  never  been 
changed.  Why  not,  yet,  perpetuate  the  name  of  Lac 
du  St.  Sacrement  somewhere  within  its  border,  either 
on  monument  or  on  church,  or  as  the  name  of  some 
local  society?  Or  better  still,  perhaps,  would  be  a 
massive  tablet  to  his  memory,  erected  on  some  small 
island  in  the  vicinity  of  Bolton  Bay,  rebaptized  Isle 
du  St.  Sacrement. 

In  1664-65  efforts  were  made  by  the  Onondaga 
chief  Garakontie  to  establish  a  treaty  of  peace  be- 
tween the  Iroquois  and  the  inhabitants  of  New 
France,  but  the  intention  of  the  French  to  administer 
chastisement  to  the  Mohawks  and  Oneidas  prevented 
the  full  accomplishment  of  the  desire  of  the  Onon- 
dagas.  For  two  or  three  years  the  government  of 
New   France  had  been   persistent   in   urging   King 


First  Expedition  of  De  Tracy  45 

Louis  XIV.  to  send  troops  to  America  to  extermi- 
nate or  overawe  the  proud  JNIohawks. 

Accordingly,  in  1665,  JMonsieur  de  Courcelle  was 
sent  out  as  governor,  and  Marquis  de  Tracy  as  lieu- 
tenant-general, with  the  Carignan-Salieres  regiment 
of  veterans,  to  accomplish  this  object.  The  first  four 
companies  that  arrived,  June  30,  1665,  were  sent  for- 
ward at  once  to  seize  advantageous  positions  on  the 
river  Richelieu,  which  was  on  the  direct  route  to  the 
Mohawks'  country,  and  to  erect  certain  forts.  Other 
companies  of  the  regiment  soon  followed,  making  a 
force  of  one  thousand  soldiers.  For  this  purpose 
three  advantageous  positions  were  chosen  and  forts 
built;  the  first  at  the  mouth  of  the  Richelieu,  the 
second  about  fifty  miles  farther  up  at  the  foot  of 
Richelieu  Falls,  named  St.  Louis,  and  the  third, 
about  ten  miles  above  the  rapids,  named  St.  Theresa. 
From  this  last  fort  there  was  easy  access  to  Lake 
Champlain,  one  hundred  and  fourteen  miles  long, 
ending  in  the  Mohawks'  country. 

Notwithstanding  the  arrival  of  many  ambassadors 
of  peace  from  the  Five  Nations,  who  were  aware  of 
the  arrival  of  the  French  troops,  and  of  the  prepara- 
tions which  were  being  made  for  a  warlike  expedition 
against  the  Mohawks,  Governor  de  Courcelle  felt 
sure  that  no  good  could  be  expected  from  the  Mo- 
hawks and  Oneidas,  unless  they  were  intimidated 
by  a  display  of  force.  Accordingly  De  Courcelle  left 
Quebec  on  January  9,  1666,  with  three  hundred  of 
the  veterans  of  the  Carignan-Salieres  regiment  and 
two  hundred  Canadian  volunteers.     This  expedition 


46  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

via  Lake  Champlain  seems  to  have  been  the  most 
foolhardy  and  abortive  of  the  many  efforts  of  New 
France  to  harm  the  Mohawks.  The  weather  was 
bitter  cold,  even  for  a  Canadian  "  habitant,"  and  by 
the  third  day  of  the  march,  many  of  the  soldiers  had 
their  hands  and  feet  and  other  parts  of  their  bodies 
frozen,  while  others  had  their  legs  and  hands  cut  by 
the  ice,  and  a  number,  wholly  overcome  by  the  in- 
tense cold,  would  have  perished  if  they  had  not  been 
carried  to  shelter  and  left  behind.  However,  their 
places  were  filled  by  soldiers  withdrawn  from  Fort  St. 
Louis  and  Fort  Theresa.  A  more  difficult  or  longer 
march  than  that  of  this  little  arniy  from  Quebec  can 
scarcely  be  met  with  in  history.  Every  one  had  snow- 
shoes  on  his  feet,  although  none  save  the  Canadian 
volunteers  were  accustomed  to  their  use.  Each  man 
had  to  carry  twenty-five  or  thirty  pounds  of  food 
and  equipments,  and  make  his  way  as  best  he  could, 
over  ice  and  snow  for  three  hundred  leagues,  sleep- 
ing in  the  snow  in  the  midst  of  forests,  and  enduring 
a  cold  surpassing  by  many  degrees  in  severity  that 
of  the  most  rigorous  European  winters.  Stumbling 
and  straggling,  this  army  of  five  hundred  men  strong 
finally  arrived  in  the  enemy's  country,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Glens  Falls,  twenty  leagues  from  the  Mohawk 
village.  Straggling  along  through  a  great  depth  of 
snow,  and  without  guides,  they  made  many  mistakes 
in  the  selection  of  the  right  route.  Finally,  some 
prisoners  taken  in  a  detached  cabin  directed  them  to 
the  Dutch  settlement  of  Schenectady,  two  miles  away. 
A  party  of  Mohawk  warriors  appeared  about  this 


First  Expedition  of  De  Tracy  47 

time,  and  skilfully  drew  a  party  of  sixty  of  the  re- 
nowned regiment  into  an  ambush,  killing  eleven  and 
wounding  many  more  before  the  French  captain  was 
able  to  extricate  his  troops  from  the  snare  and  make 
a  precipitate  retreat  to  the  cover  of  the  regiment. 

The  victorious  Mohawks  soon  after  appeared  be- 
fore the  stockade  of  Schenectady  with  the  heads  of 
four  Frenchmen  and  the  information  that  an  army 
on  snow-shoes  was  approaching.  Word  of  the  in- 
vasion was  sent  to  Albany,  while  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal men  of  this  little  frontier  village  were  sent 
to  meet  Governor  de  Courcelle  and  demand  his 
intentions. 

The  Governor  replied  that  he  came  to  seek  out 
and  destroy  his  enemies,  the  Mohawks,  without  in- 
tention of  visiting  their  plantation,  or  to  molest  his 
Majesty's,  Kin^  Charles's,  subjects — in  fact,  until 
that  moment,  he  thought  the  plantations  were  still  un- 
der the  obedience  of  Holland ;  at  the  same  time  asking 
that  his  soldiers  be  furnished  provisions  for  money, 
and  that  care  might  be  given  to  the  wounded,  and  that 
they  might  be  sent  to  Albany.  The  French,  having 
been  refreshed  and  supplied  with  provisions,  made  a 
show  of  marching  toward  the  Mohawks'  castles,  but 
when  well  out  of  sight  of  the  villagers,  "  with  faces 
about,  and  with  great  silence  and  diligence,  returned 
towards  Canada."  When  the  Governor  at  last  ar- 
rived at  home  with  his  troops,  he  reported  that  "  the 
commandant  of  a  hamlet  inhabited  by  the  Dutch  of 
New  Holland  had  informed  him  that  most  of  the 
Mohawks  and  Oneidas  were  away  at  war  with  other 


48  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

people  called  '  porcelain  makers,'  and  that  none  but 
women  and  children  were  at  their  castles,"  but  he 
believed  that  the  moral  effect  of  the  invasion  would 
be  great,  as  it  would  teach  the  Indians  that  their 
domains  were  not  inaccessible  to  the  French  troops. 

However  the  truth  seems  to  be  that  the  two  hun- 
dred Mohawks,  who  had  so  successfully  ambuscaded 
and  defeated  the  detachment  of  veterans  who  had 
been  sent  against  them,  must  have  been  at  that  time 
nearly  their  entire  force  of  warriors. 

It  is  also  said  that  the  Mohawks  repaired  to  their 
castles,  with  the  resolution  to  fight  it  out  with  the 
French. 

It  is  said  that  at  the  time  of  the  Tracy-Courcelle 
raid,  in  February  of  1666,  Arent  Van  Corlear  was 
very  active  in  helping  the  French  in  obtaining  pro- 
visions for  De  Tracy's  frozen  army,  and  also  caring 
for  their  wounded  soldiers.  On  account  of  this  gen- 
erous act,  the  French  Governor,  in  order  to  reward 
him  for  his  kindness,  invited  him  to  visit  New  France. 
Subsequently  Van  Corlear  accepted  this  invitation, 
but  on  his  journey  through  Lake  Champlain,  his 
canoe  was  overturned  in  a  storm  and  he  was  drowned. 
For  many  years  after  this  sad  accident  the  lake  was 
called  Lake  Corlear  by  the  people  of  the  Province 
of  New  York. 

It  is  also  said  that  there  is  a  rock  in  this  lake, 
on  which  the  waves  dash  and  fly  up  to  a  great  height, 
when  the  wind  blows  hard.  The  Indians  believed 
that  an  old  Indian  lived  under  this  rock  who  had 


Chazy  River  49 

the  power  of  the  winds,  and  therefore,  as  they  passed 
it  on  their  voyages,  they  always  threw  a  pipe,  a  piece 
of  flint,  or  some  other  small  present,  to  propitiate  the 
old  guard  and  to  induce  him  to  provide  a  favor- 
able wind.  The  English  were  inclined  to  make  sport 
of  this  superstition,  but  they  were  sure  to  be  told 
of  Van  Corlear's  fate.  "  Your  countryman,  Cor- 
lear,"  said  the  Indians,  "as  he  passed  by  the  rock  jested 
at  our  fathers'  making  presents  to  this  old  Indian, 
and  in  derision,  made  an  obscene  motion  of  his  body, 
but  this  affront  cost  him  his  life." 

Arent  Van  Corlear  was  drowned  in  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  1667. 

The  Chazy  River  flows  from  the  beautiful  lake  of 
the  same  name,  northerly  and  easterly,  and  falls  into 
the  northerly  end  of  Lake  Champlain,  nearly  oppo- 
sile  the  Isle  La  Motte  of  historic  fame.  The  Chazy 
Lake  sleeps  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  group  of 
the  lake  belt  of  the  wilderness,  on  the  rugged  eastern 
border  of  Clinton  County.  This  beautiful  stream 
and  lake  were  named  in  memory  of  Sieur  Chazy,  a 
young  French  nobleman  who  was  murdered  on  its 
banks,  near  its  mouth,  by  a  party  of  Mohawk  Indians, 
in  the  year  1666. 

M.  Chazy  was  a  nephew  of  Marquis  de  Tracy, 
lieutenant-general  of  Canada,  and  was  captain  in 
the  famous  French  regiment  Carignan-Salieres. 
This  regiment  was  the  first  body  of  regular  troops 
sent  to  Canada  by  the  French  King.  It  was  raised 
by  Prince  Carignan,  in  Savoy,  during  the  year  1644. 


so  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

In  1664,  it  took  a  distinguished  part  with  the  aUied 
forces  of  France  in  the  Austrian  war  with  the  Turks. 
The  next  year,  it  went  with  Tracy  to  Canada. 
Among  its  captains,  besides  Chazy,  were  Sorel,  whose 
name  was  once  borne  by  the  Richelieu  River,  and 
Captain  Chambly  for  whom  a  town  on  the  same  river 
was  named,  La  Motte,  and  others. 

In  1665  Tracy  landed  in  Quebec  in  great  pomp 
and  splendor.  As  this  splendid  array  of  noblemen 
marched  through  the  streets  of  the  young  city  to  the 
tap  of  the  drum,  led  by  the  Carignan-Salieres,  each 
soldier  with  slouch  hat,  nodding  plume,  bandolier, 
and  shouldered  firelock,  they  formed  a  glittering 
pageant,  such  as  the  New  World  had  never  seen 
before. 

In  the  same  year  Captain  La  Motte  built  Fort 
St.  Anne  upon  the  Isle  La  Motte,  at  the  north  end 
of  Lake  Champlain,  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Chazy 
River.  Young  Chazy  was  stationed  at  this  fort  in 
the  spring  of  1666,  and  while  hunting  in  the  woods 
near  the  mouth  of  the  river  with  a  party  of  officers, 
was  surprised  and  attacked  by  a  roving  band  of  Iro- 
quois. Chazy,  with  two  or  three  others,  was  killed 
upon  the  spot,  and  the  survivors  captured  and  carried 
off  prisoners  to  the  JNIohawk  Valley.  For  months 
the  war  between  the  French  and  the  Mohawks  raged 
with  unabated  fury  and  the  old  wilderness  was  again 
drenched  with  blood. 

But  in  August  following,  a  grand  council  of  peace 
was  held  with  the  Iroquois  at  Quebec.  During  the 
council,  Tracy  invited  some  Mohawk  chiefs  to  dine 


Second  Expedition  of  De  Tracy  51 

with  him.  At  the  table  allusion  was  made  to  the 
murder  of  Chazy.  A  chief  named  Ag-ari-ata  at  once 
held  out  his  arm  and  boastingly  said : 

"  This  is  the  hand  that  split  the  head  of  that  young 
man." 

"  You  shall  never  kill  anybody  else,"  exclaimed  the 
horror-stricken  Tracy,  and  ordered  the  insolent  sav- 
age to  be  taken  out  and  hanged  upon  the  spot  in 
sight  of  his  comrades. 

Of  course,  peace  was  no  longer  thought  of.  Tracy 
made  haste  to  march  against  the  IMohawks  with  all 
of  the  forces  at  his  command.  During  the  month 
of  September,  Quebec  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  Fort 
St.  Anne  on  the  Isle  of  La  Motte  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  were  the  scenes  of  busy  preparation.  The 
officers  of  the  fort  were  engaged  in  the  work  with 
intense  vigor.  Here  was  an  opportunity  to  go  to 
the  Mohawks'  country  and  possibly  release  from  cap- 
tivity their  brother  officers,  who  had  been  captured 
on  the  Chazy  in  the  spring  of  this  year;  if  not,  to 
avenge  their  death. 

At  length  Tracy,  and  the  Governor,  Courcelle,  set 
out  from  Quebec  on  the  day  of  the  "  Exaltation  of 
the  Cross."  They  had  with  them  a  force  of  thirteen 
hundred  men,  and  two  pieces  of  cannon.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  October,  and  the  forests  were  beautiful 
with  the  olive  and  gold  tints  of  autumn.  They  went 
up  Lake  Champlain  and  into  Lake  St.  Sacrament 
(now  Lake  George).  It  was  the  first  of  the  mili- 
tary pageants  that  have  made  the  crystal  gem  of  the 
wilderness  historic.     Amid  the  gorgeous  scenery  of 


52  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

the  dying  year,  the  three  hundred  hoats,  bateaux, 
and  canoes,  trailed  in  long  procession  up  the  lake, 
through  the  narrows,  that  fairyland  of  tufted  islets 
and  quiet  waters,  -and  under  the  shadows  of  many 
mountain  peaks,  until,  at  length,  they  reached  the 
head  of  the  lake,  where  Fort  William  Henry  was 
afterwards  built. 

About  a  hundred  miles  of  forests,  swamps,  rivers, 
and  high  hills  still  lay  between  them  and  the  Mohawk 
castles.  Leaving  their  canoes  and  bateaux  at  the 
head  of  the  lake,  they  plunged  boldly  on  foot  into 
the  southern  wilderness  that  lay  before  them,  follow- 
ing the  old  Indian  trail,  trodden  so  often  by  weary 
feet,  and  by  the  war  parties  of  the  savages,  which 
led  across  the  Hudson  at  the  main  bend  above  Glens 
Falls,  and  passed  across  the  old  Indian  hunting 
ground,  Kay-a-de-ros-se-ros,  through  what  are  now 
the  towns  of  Milton,  Greenfield,  and  Galway,  in 
Saratoga  County,  to  the  lower  castle  on  the  Mohawk 
River.  It  was  more  than  forty  miles  of  forest,  but 
the  path  was  narrow,  full  of  gullies  and  pitfalls, 
crossed  by  streams,  and  in  one  place  interrupted  by 
a  lake,  probably  Ballston  Lake,  which  they  crossed 
on  rafts.  In  all,  there  were  six  hundred  Canadians, 
six  hundred  regulars  of  the  Carignan-Salieres  regi- 
ment, and  a  hundred  Indians  from  the  mission,  who 
ranged  the  woods  in  front,  flank,  and  rear,  like  hounds 
on  the  scent.  On  they  went  through  the  tangled 
wood,  officers  as  well  as  men  carrying  heavy  loads 
on  their  backs ;  these  packs,  however,  caused  less  diffi- 
culty than  the  two  small  cannon  which  were  taken 


Second  Expedition  of  De  Tracy  53 

with  them  to  the  very  last  village  of  the  ]Mohawks, 
in  order  the  more  easily  to  reduce  the  fortifications 
of  the  enemy. 

Just  think  of  it.  Here  was  an  expedition  of  thir- 
teen hundred  soldiers,  among  them  the  most  renowned 
regiment  of  France,  heroes  of  a  hundred  battles,  with 
all  of  the  pomp  and  glitter  of  that  age,  and  two 
cannon,  to  do  battle  with  a  foe  armed  with  bows  and 
arrows,  and  a  few  muskets,  living  in  three  poor  vil- 
lages, protected  by  inide  wooden  palisades,  who  could 
not  at  that  time  muster  over  four  hundred  warriors. 
Actually,  the  worst  foes  they  had  to  overcome  were 
not  the  few  barbarians  surrounded  by  a  log  fence  but 
the  obstacles  nature  had  placed  in  their  path, — the 
tangled  forests,  rivers,  and  lakes,  the  war  of  the  ele- 
ments, and  hunger.  One  can  imagine  the  terror  that 
the  prowess  of  the  terrible  INIohawks  had  spread 
through  New  France,  when  we  reflect  on  the 
efforts  made,  and  difficulties  overcome,  to  effect  their 
destruction. 

General  Tracy,  old,  heavy,  and  infirm,  was  with 
the  party,  also  Governor  Courcelle.  Tracy  was 
seized  with  the  gout  and  had  to  be  assisted  on  the 
march.  At  a  rapid  stream  a  Swiss  soldier  tried  to 
carry  him  across,  but  midway  his  strength  gave  out, 
and  he  was  barely  able  to  deposit  his  ponderous  load 
on  a  rock.  A  Huron  came  to  his  aid  and  bore  Tracy 
safely  to  the  further  bank.  Courcelle  was  attacked 
with  cramps,  and  had  to  be  carried  for  a  time  like  his 
commander.  Provisions  gave  out,  and  the  troops 
grew    faint    with    hunger.     At    this    juncture    they 


54  Early  History  of  the  Mohawks 

passed  through  a  wood  of  chestnut  trees,  full  of  those 
edible  nuts,  which  stayed  for  a  time  the  hunger  of 
the  famished  troops. 

Notwithstanding  the  care  taken  to  conduct  this 
march  with  little  noise,  the  Mohawks  discovered  the 
approach  of  this  army,  while  it  was  yet  on  Lake 
Champlain,  whence  runners  were  sent  out  by 
the  Indians  to  give  warning  of  its  approach.  Con- 
sequently, the  alarm  having  been  given,  the  troops 
found  the  villages  abandoned,  while  the  Indians  could 
be  seen  on  the  hill-tops,  shouting  and  firing  guns 
at  random.  The  troops,  halting  at  each  of  the  vil- 
lages, which  were  found  empty  of  men  but  full  of  corn 
and  provisions,  only  long  enough  to  take  the  needed 
refreshment,  passed  on  to  the  second  and  third  villages, 
to  find  them  also  deserted.  They  were  hopeful,  how- 
ever, of  meeting  stout  resistance  from  the  gathering 
clans  at  the  last  one,  which  they  prepared  to  attack  in 
regular  form  with  cannon  in  position  to  batter  down 
their  frail  palisades.  At  this  village  the  Mohawks, 
by  the  great  firing  they  were  making  from  the  pre- 
cipitous hills  and  by  the  fortifications  they  had  con- 
structed, showed  their  determination  to  make  a 
vigorous  defence.  But  scarcely  had  the  advance 
guard  approached  when  they  again  took  flight  into 
the  woods,  whither  the  night  prevented  the  soldiers 
from  pursuing  them.  Lord  Tracy  took  possession  of 
the  fort  and  all  the  neighboring  lands  and  other  forts, 
in  the  name  of  the  king,  and  after  erecting  the  cross^ 
saying  mass,  and  chanting  the  Te  Deum,  proceeded 


Destruction  of  Mohawk  Castles  55 

to  burn  the  pahsades  and  cabins,  consuming  the  en- 
tire supply  of  Indian  corn,  beans,  and  other  produce, 
turned  back  to  the  other  villages  and  created  the  same 
havoc  there,  as  well  as  the  outlying  fields,  not  having 
a  doubt  that  those  who  had  escaped  destruction  by 
their  firearms  would  perish  by  starvation  during  the 
coming  winter.  The  journey  homeward  of  the  French 
troops  was  more  fatiguing  than  their  outward  tramp, 
on  account  of  swollen  rivers  and  storms  on  Lake 
Champlain. 

Teonnonteguen,  the  last  castle  attacked,  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  situated  on  a  plateau  south  of 
Sprakers',  on  the  Mohawk  River,  just  west  of  the 
Nose.  Here  a  large  quantity  of  stone  implements 
and  stone  and  metal  hatchets  have  been  found  by 
S.  L.  Frey,  the  late  A.  G.  Richmond,  and  others. 
The  first  and  second  castles  were  probably  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fort  Hunter,  all  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Mohawk  River. 


CHAPTER  V 

LEGEND  OF  THERtlSE 

Pakt  I 

IN"  the  month  of  May,  1666,  Captain  Chazy  of 
the  Carignan  regiment  of  French  troops  was 
located  temporarily  at  Fort  St.  Anne,  at  the  mouth 
of  Lake  Champlain.  In  order  to  while  away  the 
time.  Captain  Chazy,  Sieur  de  Travesy,  and  other 
officers,  and  a  companion  of  Chazy  by  the  name  of 
Armand  de  Loreles,  went  up  a  river  near  the  fort 
on  a  hunting  expedition.  Unfortunately,  they  were 
surprised  by  a  party  of  Mohawks,  Chazy  and  De 
Travesy  were  killed,  and  Armand  taken  prisoner. 

Fearing  that  an  alarm  would  be  given  at  the  fort, 
the  Mohawks  plunged  into  the  wooded  mountainous 
wilderness  to  the  west,  with  their  solitary  prisoner, 
after  stripping  the  slain  of  their  gorgeous  uniforms, 
and  taking  their  scalps.  Armand  is  described  as  a 
young  man  of  twenty-four  years  of  age,  of  fine  per- 
sonal appearance,  and  of  singularly  white  skin  and 
blond  hair,  a  marked  contrast  to  the  black  locks  and 
bronzed  complexion  of  his  dusky  captors. 

Their  route  of  retreat  led  them  through  a  ravine, 

56 


Legend  of  Therese  5  7 

which  gradually  ascended  until  it  reached  the  peak 
of  a  range  of  mountains  that  separated  them  from 
their  canoes,  which  were  concealed  in  one  of  the  many 
beautiful  lakes  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  divide. 
When  the  party  was  nearing  the  top  of  the  peak,  a 
thunder-storm,  which  had  been  gathering  in  the  west, 
burst  suddenly  upon  them  and  made  the  Mohawks 
scurry  for  shelter.  Turning  sharpty  to  the  north, 
the  guide  of  the  party  suddenly  disappeared  around 
a  corner  of  a  cliff. 

As  he  was  closely  followed,  it  was  discovered  that 
he  had  entered  a  narrow  opening  in  the  almost  per- 
pendicular face  of  the  peak,  which  towered  above 
three  hundred  feet  or  more.  Following  in  his  foot- 
steps they  entered  a  dimly  lighted  cavern,  which,  as 
the  eye  became  accustomed  to  the  gloom,  proved  to 
be  of  generous  proportions.  With  a  few  dry  fagots 
hastily  gathered  and  the  help  of  flint  and  steel,  a 
fire  was  soon  blazing,  while  the  storm  Mithout  raged 
furiously,  and  the  thunder  seemed  to  rebound  from 
cliff  to  cliff,  and  roll  down  from  crag  to  crag. 

With  blazing  torch  the  Indians  explored  the  gloom, 
and  soon,  about  three  hundred  feet  away  and  down 
a  sharp  incline,  the  torch  flickered  and  disappeared. 
Two  other  men  with  torches  warily  explored  the 
cavern,  in  the  direction  in  which  the  light  had  dis- 
appeared, meeting  the  former  party  hurriedly  return- 
ing in  fear  and  amazement.  The  discover}'-  of  this 
cavern  proved  to  be  accidental,  as  none  of  the 
INIohawks  knew  of  its  existence. 

The  j^oung  Frenchman,  bound  and  shivering  with 


58  Legend  of  Therese 

nervous  fear,  to  whom  the  day  had  been  one  of  dire- 
ful experience,  and  the  death  and  mutilation  of  his 
dear  friend  Chazy  so  horrible,  lay  by  the  fire,  dazed 
and  gloomy  with  forebodings  of  his  own  fate  at  the 
hands  of  the  Mohawks,  who  he  had  been  led  to 
believe  were  monsters  in  human  form,  delighting  in 
the  torture  of  helpless  prisoners  and  in  cannibalistic 
feasts. 

Although  not  allowed  to  partake  of  the  scanty  food 
w^th  which  the  INIohawks  were  provided,  he  asked  for 
and  obtained  water  to  drink,  and  soon  sank  to  slumber 
among  his  tired  captors.  At  the  first  faint  streak 
of  dawn  in  this  high  altitude,  the  party  was  astir, 
and  before  the  rising  of  the  sun  had  reached  the 
canoes  on  a  lake  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
where  refreshing  and  abundant  food  was  given  to 
the  prisoner  and  his  bonds  loosed. 

Of  an  exceedingly  buoyant  and  cheerful  disposi- 
tion, Loreles  was  inclined  to  throw  off  the  depression 
of  gloom  and  fear  with  which  his  mind  had  been 
filled  the  previous  day,  and  make  the  best  of  the 
situation  that  confronted  him.  He  therefore  asked, 
by  signs,  to  be  allowed  to  take  a  plunge  in  the  lake. 
His  request  was  received  in  silence,  but  in  a  short 
time  he  noticed  three  canoes,  with  two  young  Mo- 
hawks in  each,  paddle  out  into  the  lake,  and  take 
position  that  would  prevent  escape  on  the  lake  by 
swimming.  Armand  was  then  told  that  he  could  take 
the  desired  bath. 

Stripping  off  his  garments  he  was  soon  surrounded 
by  the  whole  band,  who  gazed  with  admiration  at 


Legend  of  Ther^se  59 

the  vision  of  pure  white  muscularity  before  them. 
Some  touched  his  flesh  gently;  others  grasped  his 
arms  and  ran  their  fingers  through  his  yellow  hair; 
all  expressed  surprise  at  the  radiant  white  image 
before  them.  Armand  submitted  with  good-nature, 
laughing  heartil}^  at  their  e^adent  admiration. 

Turning  suddenly  he  plunged  into  the  lake  out  of 
sight,  to  come  up  near  one  of  the  canoes,  whose  occu- 
pants he  spattered,  laughing  heartily,  his  face  beam- 
ing with  good-nature  and  joj^ousness.  The  young 
Indians  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  fun  spattered 
Armand  with  their  paddles,  who,  sinking  under  the 
surface  of  the  w^ater,  and  coming  up  on  the  other 
side  of  the  canoe,  quietly  grasped  the  gunwale,  and, 
putting  his  weight  upon  it,  overturned  the  canoe, 
throwing  the  young  INIohawks  into  the  water  amid 
the  laughter  of  the  party  on  the  shore,  while  Ar- 
mand, quickly  diving,  came  to  the  surface  fifty  feet 
away. 

Although  the  Indians  on  the  war-path  may  be 
brutal  and  inhuman,  at  home,  in  the  seclusion  of 
their  isolated  villages,  they  are  full  of  sport  and 
practical  jokes.  Father  Lalemant  tells  of  his  trials 
in  learning  the  Huron  language.  Asking  some 
young  Hurons  for  a  phrase  or  w^ord  of  condolence 
for  the  sick,  they  gave  him  an  obscene  sentence,  and 
followed  him  to  hear  him  use  it  in  the  most  incon- 
gruous situations. 

Armand,  with  his  sport-loving  proclivities,  builded 
better  than  he  knew,  for  he  soon  became  a  great 
favorite  with  the  warriors,  who  admired  him  for  his 


6o  Legend  of  Ther^se 

good-humor,  and  were  proud  of  him  for  his  won- 
derful white  skin,  so  different  from  the  color  of  their 
own  duskj'^  bodies.  Looking  upon  him  as  a  prize  to 
be  cared  for,  he  was  given  liberties  which  were  rarely 
accorded  prisoners.  He  soon  recovered  from  his  de- 
spondency, and  began  to  look  forward  without  fear 
to  his  possible  life  with  the  aborigines. 

The  young  bucks  in  the  party  tried  to  frighten 
him  with  stories  of  the  gauntlet,  and  the  horrors  of 
the  torture  awaiting  him  at  the  end  of  their  journey, 
but  he  laughed  at  them  and  bore  the  burden  of  the 
march  with  such  good-humored  equanimity  that  he 
made  friends  of  them  all. 

We  will  not  follow  them  over  the  wilderness  trails, 
but  will  meet  them  at  the  INIohawk  River,  where  they 
were  to  follow  the  river  trail  to  the  first  village,  called 
Tionondaroga  (Fort  Hunter).  Word  had  been  sent 
ahead  that  they  were  returning  with  scalps  and  a 
French  prisoner,  and  preparations  had  already  been 
made  for  the  usual  gruesome  welcome  given  on  the 
return  of  a  successful  war  party;  but  the  warriors, 
although  reticent,  did  not  purpose  that  this  favorite 
prisoner  should  suffer  any  torture  or  indignities, 
although  Armand  was  to  be  displayed  in  the  usual 
manner. 

About  a  half-mile  from  the  village  the  returning 
warriors  were  met  by  the  whole  population  of  the 
lower  castle,  men,  women,  boys,  and  girls,  arranged 
in  two  lines,  armed  with  switches  and  clubs  to  inflict 
blows  on  the  prisoner. 

Armand  had  been  stripped  of  all  his  clothing,  but 


Legend  of  Therese  6i 

was  concealed  from  the  crowd  by  being  surrounded 
by  the  warriors  in  close  order. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  beginning  of  the  line 
orders  were  given  that  no  blows  should  be  struck. 
At  a  given  signal  the  chief  of  the  war  party,  with 
scalps  hanging  from  his  belt,  strode  forward  be- 
tween the  lines,  Armand  following  about  twenty 
feet  away  as  naked  as  Adam. 

His  anxiety  in  regard  to  his  reception  being  some- 
what allayed,  he  regained  his  usual  sang-froid,  and 
with  brilliant  cheeks  and  smiling  lips  passed  in  re- 
view of  all  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  village,  who  in 
amazement  gazed  upon  this  radiant  white  stranger, 
giving  him  the  admiration  due  to  a  young  god. 

Although  nude,  he  did  not  appear  as  singular  as 
one  would  suppose,  as  his  companions,  the  dusky 
warriors,  were  but  slightly  clad,  and  many  of  the  on- 
lookers, clad  as  they  were,  would  not  have  been 
presentable  in  a  European  assemblage.  However, 
the  novelty  of  the  situation  was  very  embarrassing 
to  the  young  Frenchman,  and  tinged  his  cheeks  with 
a  scarlet  hue. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  outside  of  the  pali- 
sades, was  a  group  of  half-clad  maidens  who  gazed 
at  the  young  man  with  unrestrained  admiration,  some 
of  them  never  having  seen  a  European  clad  or  un- 
clad. One  of  the  group  was  a  young  girl,  mature 
of  form  and  with  evidence  of  white  blood  on  her 
beautiful  face,  who  waved  her  hand  at  him  as  he 
was  passing  near,  and  in  a  well-modulated  A^oice 
greeted  him  in  pure  French  with  "  Bon  soir,  ]Mon- 


62  Legend  of  Therese 

sieiir."  Turning  toward  the  speaker,  he  rephed  with 
"  Bon  soir,  nion  amie,"  and  gazed  into  eyes  of  black- 
ness, that  conveyed  to  him  sympathy  and  admiration. 
As  his  blue  eyes  looked  into  hers,  the  color  deepened 
on  her  cheeks,  her  hand  clutched  her  throat,  and  her 
eyes  followed  his  as  he,  fascinated,  turned  his  head 
in  passing  and  with  a  smile  blew  her  a  kiss. 

Amazed  at  the  beauty  of  the  young  maiden,  who 
seemed  almost  white,  and  whose  dress  and  demeanor 
seemed  to  place  her  in  a  different  class  from  her 
dusky  companions,  he  stumbled  along  with  his  dusky 
captors,  wondering  if  he  would  ever  see  her  again. 
As  the  party,  whose  objective  point  was  the  third 
castle,  twenty  miles  away,  halted  by  a  spring  for  rest 
and  refreshment,  he  begged  his  captors  to  clothe  him 
with  moccasins,  and  breech-cloth,  and  mantle  for  his 
shoulders.  These  things  were  furnished  on  the 
march,  but  he  was  obliged  to  discard  them  at  the 
second  and  third  villages,  where  they  were  received 
in  like  manner  as  at  the  lower  castle. 

It  may  seem  strange  that  a  savage  maiden  who 
had  never  seen  a  white  man  should  be  found  among 
the  Indians  of  the  IMohawk,  but  an  explanation  which 
is  a  matter  of  history  wdll  make  this  statement  appear 
reasonable.  In  1639,  an  embryo  of  a  seminary  or 
convent  was  established  at  Montreal  by  the  Ursulines, 
the  pupils  of  which  were  called  seminarists.  Almost 
at  once,  six  Indian  girls  (Montagues  and  Hurons) 
were  admitted  for  instruction,  among  whom  was  a 
half-breed  girl  twelve  years  of  age,  named  by  the 
nuns  Therese.     After  about  three  years  of  instruc- 


Legend  of  Therese  63 

tion  among  the  nuns,  she  attempted  to  return  to  her 
home  in  the  Huron  country,  but  was  captured  with 
Father  Isaac  Jogues's  party,  in  1642,  and  taken  to 
the  Mohawks'  country. 

Almost  immediately,  although  only  sixteen  years 
old,  she  was  taken  in  marriage  by  a  jNIohawk  chief. 
Ten  years  after  she  was  seen  by  some  Huron  i)rison- 
ers,  but  refused  to  leave  her  family  and  return  to 
New  France. 

The  young  girl  who  spoke  to  Armand  beyond  the 
palisades  of  the  first  castle  was  the  daughter  of 
Therese,  who  had  instructed  her  in  the  knowledge 
she  had  obtained  at  the  primitive  seminary  on  Mont- 
real Island,  and  had  transmitted  to  her  the  inherit- 
ance of  European  blood  and  comeliness  from  her 
French  grandfather,  as  well  as  her  Christian  faith 
and  name,  Marie. 

Marie  was  now  sixteen  years  old,  and  although 
somewhat  secluded  and  inaccessible  to  the  young  In- 
dians, still,  she  had  been  taught  by  her  mother  that 
the  time  was  not  far  distant  when  some  of  the  young 
chieftains  would  seek  to  persuade  her  to  preside  over 
his  wigwam.  Having  but  lately  taken  up  her  abode 
at  Tionondaroga,  INIarie  had  made  very  few  close 
friends  among  the  young  Indians,  holding  herself 
aloof  from  their  sports  and  pastimes,  and  always  re- 
tiring from  scenes  of  torture  and  death,  so  often 
inflicted  on  helpless  prisoners. 

So,  as  the  prisoner  and  his  escort  faded  from  her 
sight  up  the  valley,  she,  knowing  how  prisoners  were 
usually  treated,  closed  her  eyes  while  her  heart  beat 


64  Legend  of  Therese 

with  spasmodic  pain,  at  the  thought  that  the  beautiful 
white  stranger  was  being  led  to  torture  and  mutilation. 

She  almost  cried  out  at  the  vision  in  her  mind  of 
fire  scorching  his  limbs,  of  his  fingers  chewed  by  old 
hags,  young  boys  and  girls,  of  the  dusky  dancers 
around  the  stake,  and  of  the  tearing  of  the  yellow 
scalp  from  his  head. 

Oh !  no,  it  must  not  be,  mother  must  save  him  for — 
for  her!  Stealing  away  from  her  companions,  she 
slowly  and  listlessly  approached  her  home  in  the 
forest,  outside  the  palisade. 

"  Maman,"  she  said  to  her  mother  in  an  indifferent 
tone,  "  will  the  white  stranger  be  killed  at  Teonnon- 
teguen,  or  brought  back  here  ?  " 

"  He  will  come  back  here,  he  will  not  be  killed, 
ma  fille;  I  will  save  him,  he  will  not  be  harmed." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  follow  Armand 
in  his  journey  to  the  upper  castle  of  the  Mohawks. 
Therese  was  right,  he  was  brought  back  to  Tiononda- 
roga.  Her  husband  was  a  sachem  of  the  Iroquois, 
a  man  about  forty-five  years  old,  a  noted  warrior 
and  councillor,  and  the  man  who  captured  Armand 
and  saved  him  from  the  fate  that  befell  Chazy  and 
Travesy. 

He  loved  his  half-breed  wife  with  her  uncanny 
wisdom  and  strange  speech,  who  still  clung  to  the 
religion  taught  her  by  Marie  of  the  Incarnation,  at 
the  rude  seminary  at  Montreal. 

But  she  did  not  parade  her  belief,  but  lived  the 
life  of  a  Christian  within  herself,  and,  more  than  she 
realized,  swayed  the  councils  of  the  Mohawks  through 


Legend  of  Ther^se  65 

her  husband.  At  this  period  she  was  thirty-five  years 
old,  tall  and  beautifully  proportioned,  with  pleasing 
features  somewhat  bronzed  by  exj^osure,  and  always 
dressed  with  barbaric  splendor,  as  became  the  wife 
of  a  sachem  of  the  "  terrible  JNIohawks." 

Marie  was  now  her  only  child,  as  her  only  son, 
whom  she  had  named  Pierre,  had  been  killed  the 
summer  before  in  a  raid  on  the  inhabitants  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  Valley. 

It  transpired  that  Therese  had  asked  that  the 
"  white  stranger "  be  given  to  her,  to  be  "  raised 
up  "  to  take  the  place  of  Pierre  in  her  household,  as 
her  new  son.  This  gave  her  the  power  of  life  or 
death  over  the  young  Frenchman,  to  do  with  him  as 
seemed  good  unto  her.  If  she  should  choose  to 
torture  or  kill  him,  it  was  her  privilege,  but  no  one 
else  had  any  power  to  inflict  punishment  on  him. 

Thus  it  came  to  pass  that  Armand  was  adopted 
into  the  home  of  the  young  maiden  he  admired,  re- 
ceiving the  name  of  her  brother  Pierre.  Frequently, 
in  cases  of  this  kind,  the  situation  or  status  of  a  new 
son  meant  slavery,  or  constant  toil  as  a  drudge. 
Nominally,  Armand  was  a  slave  to  Therese,  but  her 
motive  in  obtaining  or  exercising  this  privilege  was 
the  passionate  love  or  desire  that  had  suddenly  filled 
her  very  being. 

It  may  be  well,  at  this  time,  to  tell  all  that  is  known 
of  the  early  life  of  this  historic  character.  She  was 
the  offspring  of  a  Huron  maiden  and  a  French  gen- 
tleman, an  "  emigre,"  named  Jean  Loreles,  who  came 
to  New  France  with  the  elder  La  Tour,  as  a  friend 


66  Legend  of  Therdse 

of  the  young  La  Tour.  Following  in  the  footsteps 
of  his  predecessors,  he  took  to  his  home  the  mother  of 
Therese  as  his  Indian  wife.  At  that  early  period, 
many  Frenchmen  came  to  Canada  in  a  spirit  of  ad- 
venture, and,  tiring  of  the  hardships  of  this  cold 
region,  returned  home  after  a  brief  sojourn. 

Loreles,  however,  was  called  home  by  a  message 
from  his  family,  which  obliged  him  to  leave  New 
France  hurriedly,  leaving  his  young  wife  with  re- 
gret. This  was  about  six  months  subsequent  to 
the  birth  of  his  child.  The  mother  and  child  soon 
returned  to  her  home  on  Lake  Simcoe,  and  for  twelve 
years  the  daughter  lived  the  life  of  an  Indian  girl, 
or  until  the  Ursuline  nuns  rescued  her,  and  she  be- 
came a  seminarist,  named  by  the  nuns  Therese,  from 
the  saint  of  that  name. 

Records  of  pupils  were  early  begun  by  the  nuns, 
and  a  small  piece  of  parchment,  enclosed  in  a  tube 
of  horn,  hung  suspended  from  her  rosary,  which 
never  left  her  neck.  On  it  were  the  name  of  her 
father,  Jean  Loreles,  the  date  of  her  birth,  and  a 
brief  account  of  her  mother's  life  in  Quebec,  the  date 
of  her  entry,  and  the  date  of  discharge  from  the  semi- 
nary; also  a  brief  description  of  her  father,  and 
the  statement  that  his  home  was  in  Paris  and  that 
he  was  of  good  family. 

At  the  request  of  Therese,  the  clothing  of  the 
"  white  captive,"  as  Armand  was  called,  was  re- 
stored to  him,  together  with  his  gun,  hunting  knife, 
and  the  ammunition  he  had  on  his  person  when 
captured.     As  a  member  of  the  sachem's  family,  he 


c3 


Legend  of  Therese  67 

was  greeted  kindly  by  Therese  and  the  chief,  and 
with  dancing  eyes  and  hectic  flush  by  JNIarie,  his 
genial  manner  making  him  a  favorite  among  the 
inhabitants. 

He  was,  however,  somewhat  annoyed  by  their 
curiosity  and  spirit  of  investigation,  his  white  skin 
and  yellow  hair  being  a  source  of  wonder  to  the  youth 
of  the  village,  and  he  soon  refrained  from  wandering 
far  from  the  domicile  of  the  sachem.  This  threw 
him  in  almost  constant  companionship  with  Therese 
and  her  daughter,  Marie,  both  of  whom  he  could 
converse  with  in  the  French  language. 

He  was  still  known  in  the  family  of  the  sachem 
as  the  "  white  stranger."  Therese,  having  re- 
frained from  questioning  him  about  his  antecedents, 
did  not  know  him,  or  speak  of  him,  by  any  other 
name.  Although  ten  years  his  senior,  she  was  at- 
tracted to  him,  and  he  received  attentions  from  her 
that  would  have  alarmed  him,  if  his  thoughts  had  not 
so  constantly  turned  to  INIarie,  with  her  mature  youth 
and  beauty. 

Grateful  for  the  care  and  kind  attention  that  he 
received  from  members  of  the  sachem's  household,  and 
somewhat  flattered  by  the  warm  caresses  from  this 
beautiful  savage  matron  when  alone  with  her,  and 
also  grateful  to  one  who  had  saved  his  life,  he  in 
his  innate  good-nature  in  no  wise  repulsed  these 
attentions,  although  not  in  a  mood  to  reciprocate 
them.  As  for  Therese,  her  passion  for  the  young 
Frenchman  became  intense,  and  the  fact  that  he  was 
of  the  same  nationality  as  that  of  her  father  led  her 


68  Legend  of  Therese 


^5' 


on;  at  times  tender  and  loving,  and  again  morose  and 
repellent  in  manner,  when  she  found  that  Armand 
did  not  respond  to  her  caresses. 

"  Why  should  I  not  love  him?  He  belongs  to  me. 
Is  not  his  life  in  my  hands,  is  he  not  my  slave,  to 
do  Math  as  I  list  ? "  And  then  she  thought  of  her 
early  instruction  by  the  nuns,  and  as  the  command, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  covet,"  would  sound  to  her  out  of 
the  past,  she  would  avoid  the  presence  of  her  captive 
for  a  little  while. 

Armand  had  been  an  inmate  of  the  house  of  Therese 
for  nearly  two  months,  a  portion  of  the  time  having 
been  employed  in  hunting  and  fishing  excursions; 
when  at  home,  however,  he  frequently  saw  Marie 
in  the  presence  of  her  mother,  and  again  in  strolls 
in  the  near-by  forests.  They  had  learned  to  love 
each  other,  but  the  j^'outh  and  timidity  of  Marie  had 
prevented  Armand  from  actual  love-making,  although 
they  had  become  jolly  comrades,  happy  in  each  other's 
society. 

Armand,  realizing  that  he  owed  his  life  to  Therese, 
refrained,  out  of  loyalty  to  his  hostess,  from  lover-like 
attentions  to  Marie.  So  Therese,  engrossed  in  her 
own  passion,  failed  to  comprehend  the  danger  of  two 
5"oung  and  lovable  people  allowed  almost  constant 
companionship  and  free  to  wander  where'er  they 
listed  without  restraint. 

Armand,  the  "  white  captive,"  had  arrived  in  the 
INIohawks'  country  about  the  beginning  of  June,  and, 
at  the  period  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  had  been 
a  captive  about  four  months.     One  beautiful  moon- 


Legend  of  Therese  69 

light  night  Armand  and  INIarie  were  sitting  outside 
of  the  wigwam,  alone.  He  had  told  the  young 
maiden  of  his  love,  and  had  taken  her  in  his  arms, 
and  had  taught  her  the  full  meaning  of  the  kiss  of 
love. 

He  had  told  her  his  name,  of  his  life  in  old  France, 
and  of  his  mission  to  Canada,  which  had  been  inter- 
rupted by  his  capture,  when  they  were  alarmed  by 
a  slight  noise  in  the  cabin.  After  listening,  the  sound 
not  being  repeated,  he  continued  his  story.  Had  he 
known  how  near  death  he  had  been  at  that  moment, 
the  story  would  have  had  no  ending. 

Therese,  having  returned  quietly  to  the  cabin,  had 
been  a  witness  of  the  warm  embraces  of  the  young 
couple.  For  a  moment  her  Indian  blood  and  Indian 
passion  were  in  the  ascendency,  and  she  stepped  for- 
ward in  fury,  armed  with  a  knife,  when  her  ears 
caught  the  name  of  Armand  Loreles.  With  the 
silence  of  a  statue  of  bronze,  she  bent  forward,  drink- 
ing in  every  word  of  the  strange  tale. 

"  Yes,"  said  the  young  man,  "  my  name  is  Armand, 
named  for  my  father,  Armand  Loreles.  He  had  but 
one  brother,  named  Jean  Loreles." 

"Jean  Loreles!"  Therese  uttered  the  name  in  a 
low  whisper  of  amazement. 

"  During  the  last  years  of  the  administration  of 
Governor  Champlain,"  continued  Armand,  "  my 
uncle,  Jean  Loreles,  came  to  Canada  in  a  spirit  of 
adventure.  Shortly  after  his  arrival  my  uncle  met 
a  beautiful  Huron  girl,  with  whom  he  fell  ardently 
in  love." 


70  Legend  of  Therese 

"His  uncle!"  murmured  Therese. 

*'  The  young  Huron  maiden,  naturally  attracted 
to  the  gallant  young  Frenchman,  reciprocated  the 
love  he  professed  and  became  his  wife." 

"  His  wife ! "  sighed  the  stricken  woman  in  the 
gloom. 

"  They  lived  happily  together  for  a  year  and  a 
half,  during  w^hich  time  a  daughter  was  born,  but 
their  happy  life  was  broken  by  a  message  from 
France,  requesting  his  instant  return  if  he  desired  to 
see  his  father  alive.  The  ship  which  brought  the 
message  was  to  sail  at  once,  and  with  a  tearful  good- 
bye, and  a  promise  to  return  soon  to  his  wife  and 
babe,  who  at  that  period  was  about  six  months  old, 
Jean  sailed  away. 

"  Having  arrived  in  France,  he  found  his  father 
a  paralytic,  needing  almost  constant  care.  His  father 
having  a  large  estate,  Jean  found  his  time  fully  em- 
ployed between  the  duties  that  devolved  upon  him, 
and  care  of  the  helpless  invalid.  Although  he  tried 
to  communicate  with  his  little  family  in  Canada,  his 
efforts  were  futile,  on  account  of  the  removal  of  the 
mother  and  child  into  the  wilderness  of  the  Hurons' 
country,  in  the  vicinity  of  Georgian  Bay.  After 
years  of  helplessness,  the  father  died,  leaving  his 
estate  to  his  two  sons,  Armand  and  Jean. 

"  As  soon  as  Jean  could  arrange  the  business  of 
the  estate,  he  sailed  for  Canada,  determined  to  find 
his  daughter  and  her  mother,  if  yet  alive,  but  alas! 
the  ship  in  which  he  had  taken  passage  foundered  in 
mid-ocean  and  all  on  board  were  lost.     When  it  was 


Legend  of  Theresa  71 

established  beyond  a  doubt  that  my  uncle  Jean  was 
lost  at  sea,  I  opened  the  will  of  my  uncle,  and  found 
that  I  was  heir  to  his  whole  estate,  except  a  legacy 
to  his  daughter  in  New  France  of  10,000  francs,  and 
it  bade  me  go  to  France,  and  search  for  his  child, 
whom  he  had  not  heard  from  since  he  left  the  wharf 
at  Quebec  so  many  years  ago. 

"  I  had  learned  from  the  Jesuit  father  at  Mont- 
real," continued  Armand,  "  of  a  half-breed  girl  who 
had  been  captured  by  the  Mohawks  in  1642,  wdio  was 
said  to  have  married  a  INIohawk  chief,  on  the  JNIohawk 
River,  and  refused  to  return  to  her  own  country.  At 
the  seminary  at  Montreal  the  girl  had  been  named 
Therese. 

"  It  was  this  woman,"  said  Armand,  "  I  was  seek- 
ing when  I  was  captured." 

With  a  tread  as  noiseless  as  that  of  a  panther  the 
half-breed  stole  away,  and  entering  the  forest  in 
the  outskirts  she  drew  her  stroud  over  her  head  and 
lay  at  full  length  on  her  face  on  the  sod,  her  brain 
confused  with  the  tale  she  had  heard. 

"Mon  Dieu!''  she  murmured.  "My  cousin;  and 
Marie  loves  him  too.  Holy  ^lother !  and  I  would  have 
sinned,"  and  the  poor  woman  writhed  among  the  pine 
needles  of  the  forest  at  the  memory  of  her  humilia- 
tion. "  Ah,  and  I  would  have  killed  him.  Oh,  Jesu, 
merci ! " 

Slowly  she  returned  to  her  cabin  and  there,  on  her 
sleepless  couch,  she  wrestled  with  the  most  momen- 
tous question  she  had  ever  confronted.  In  tliose 
long  hours  Indian  blood  and  the  blood  of  the  white 


72  Legend  of  Ther^se 

man  fought  for  supremacy.  But  the  training  of 
the  seminarist  conquered,  and  her  decision  was  made. 
At  the  usual  hour  she  arose  and  performed  her  simple 
household  duties,  and  after  the  meal  was  eaten,  and 
Marie  sent  into  the  castle  on  an  errand,  she  led  Ar- 
mand  into  the  forest,  where,  seating  herself  on  a 
fallen  tree  trunk,  she  turned  to  him,  and  said 
in  a  low,  even  voice :  "  You  love  Marie.  Would 
you  make  her  your  wife  by  the  laws  of  the 
church? " 

Armand  gazed  at  her  with  pale  face  and  staring 
eyes.  At  last,  awed  by  the  strange  and  imperturb- 
able manner  of  his  host,  he  replied,  "  I  love  your 
daughter,  I  told  her  so  last  night,  and  she  loves  me; 
the  knowledge  alone  has  been  so  blissful  that  we  have 
not  thought  of  the  future.    Will  you  give  her  to  me?  " 

"  Armand,  I  am  Therese  Loreles !  " 

"You  are  Therese  Loreles?"  said  Armand  too 
astonished  to  think  clearly. 

"  I  saw  Marie  with  you  last  night  and  I  heard  your 
story;  your  Uncle  Jean  was  my  father." 

"  Your  father? "  he  exclaimed,  and  while  his  eyes 
saw  nothing  and  with  his  brain  sodden,  he  continued 
in  a  whisper,  "And  Marie  is  my  cousin!" 

Part  II 

While  Armand  was  taking  life  in  a  happy-go-lucky 
way  on  the  banks  of  the  Mohawk,  matters  of  direful 
import  to  these  villages  were  transpiring  on  the  banks 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 


Leg^end  of  Therese  73 


The  scheme  of  De  Tracy  for  the  destruction  of 
the  terrible  jNIohawks,  with  the  assistance  of  the 
lately  imported  Carignan-Salieres  regiment  of 
French  regular  troops,  which  has  been  related  in  a 
previous  chapter,  was  precipitated  by  the  killing  of 
Chazy  and  De  Travesy,  and  the  capture  of  Sieur 
Armand  Loreles,  a  cousin  of  Governor  de  Tracy. 
The  troops  detailed  for  the  purpose  were  discovered 
in  all  of  their  glittering  array  by  a  party  of  oNIohawks 
who  were  hunting  on  Lake  St.  Sacrament,  in  the 
vicinity  of  its  outlet. 

Without  delay  one  of  the  party  was  despatched  in 
his  birchen  canoe  by  the  way  of  Lake  St.  Sacrament 
and  the  Hudson,  to  alarm  the  JNIohawks,  while  the 
remainder  of  the  party  warily  watched  the  French 
troops  in  order  to  ascertain  their  destination;  other 
runners  were  to  be  sent  ahead  from  time  to  time,  as 
it  became  evident  which  course  or  trail  the  invaders 
would  adopt. 

It  was  early  in  October,  and  all  of  the  beautiful 
tints  of  autumn  were  adding  splendor  to  the  environ- 
ment of  the  glittering  warlike  array  of  the  heroes 
of  many  battles,  as  they  sailed  up  the  lake  on  what 
they  deemed  a  holiday  excursion. 

Duly  warned,  however,  the  JNIohawks  were  cog- 
nizant of  every  move  of  the  French  troops  and  had 
laid  their  plans  accordingly,  when  the  Frenchmen 
reached  the  river  about  ten  miles  from  the  first 
castle. 

Indian  spies  had  been  sent  out  by  De  Tracy, — but 
they  never  returned. 


74  Legend  of  Therese 

Part  III 

The  Mohawk  runner  had  arrived  on  the  evening 
of  the  day  after  the  interview  between  Therese  and 
Armand,  as  related  above.  Breathless  and  exhausted 
for  want  of  sleep,  he  fell  to  the  earthen  floor  of  the 
sachem's  cabin,  and  barely  told  his  tale  before  he  sank 
in  slumber. 

Fairly  stunned  with  the  direful  news  Therese  sat 
crouched  before  the  fire,  trying  in  vain  to  solve  the 
problem  that  confronted  her.  She  realized  that  two 
weeks  or  more  would  elapse  before  the  army  would 
reach  their  village,  but  she  also  perceived  the  danger 
to  Armand,  when  her  people  became  aware  that  his 
countrymen  were  approaching  and  that  the  destruc- 
tion of  their  peaceful  villages  was  imminent.  In- 
stant torture  or  death  would  be  demanded  by  the 
chiefs  in  their  rage  and  terror.  Could  she  hide  him 
and  help  him  to  escape  to  his  friends,  only  a  few 
days'  journey  away?  If  she  should  send  him  away, 
M'hat  of  Marie,  when  she  became  aware  that  her  lover 
had  gone,  probably  never  to  return? 

Armand  w  ould  marry  her,  but  that  would  not  save 
his  life,  if  he  remained;  should  she  send  him  to  the 
south,  to  Okwaga?  but  he  would  not  go  without 
Marie,  and  what  would  his  anger  be  when  he  found 
that  she  had  kept  the  news  of  the  approach  of  the 
army  from  him,  and  that  his  friends  had  returned  to 
Canada  without  him.  If  she  should  send  him  away 
to  the  French  army,  could  he  stay  their  march? 
No. 


Legend  of  Therese  75 

She  thought  of  the  danger  to  her  own  Hfe,  and  the 
fact  that  she  had  learned  to  love  the  young  man;  but 
now  she  knew  she  would  have  to  give  him  up  to 
Marie.  She  recalled  that  he  was  of  her  own  flesh 
and  blood,  and  looked  back  with  horror  at  the  pas- 
sion which  had  pervaded  her,  and  almost  made  her 
a  murderess.  Almost  frantic  at  the  dilemma  in  which 
she  was  placed,  she  realized  that  the  news  of  the  ad- 
vance of  the  French  troops  must  be  kept  from  her 
people  for  another  day  and,  if  possible,  two  days, 
and  that  she  must  tell  Armand  the  truth  at  once. 

But  could  she  keep  the  news  from  being  known? 
She  aroused  herself  and  approached  the  tired  run- 
ner, to  find  him  tossing  restlessly  in  his  fitful  slumber, 
muttering  unintelligible  sounds.  Touching  his  flesh, 
she  found  that  he  was  in  a  high  fever  and  also  that 
he  was  unconscious  and  would  be  unable  to  leave 
the  cabin  until  the  fever  abated.  Without  asking 
for  assistance,  she  placed  him  on  a  rude  couch  and 
prepared  to  administer  the  proper  remedies,  mutter- 
ing to  herself,  "  Holy  JNIother,  I  thank  thee!  " 

Weary  with  her  vigil,  she  at  last  fell  asleep,  waking 
a  few  hours  later  at  the  call  of  JNIarie.  Rest  had 
cleared  her  brain,  and  her  French  blood  asserting 
itself,  she  quickly  made  her  plans.  Finding  her  pa- 
tient still  restless,  she  prepared  and  administered  a 
sleeping  potion  Avhich  would  not  only  give  him  rest, 
but  would  keep  him  from  delivering  his  message  to 
the  head  men  of  the  castle. 

Soon  after  the  morning  meal,  having  left  INIarie  to 
care  for  the  patient,  she  approached  the  palisade,  over 


76  Legend  of  Ther^se 

the  path  she  knew  Armand  would  come  from  a  visit 
to  the  castle,  whither  he  had  gone  the  night  before. 
Meeting  him  she  turned  to  a  path  leading  towards 
the  outskirts  of  the  forest,  he  following  docilely. 

"Armand,  do  you  love  Marie?"  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  I  love  her  purely  and  truly,"  he  replied. 

"  You  did  not  answer  the  question  I  asked  you 
last  night.  Would  you  marry  her  according  to  the 
laws  of  the  church?"  she  asked,  gazing  straight  into 
his  unflinching  blue  eyes. 

"  I  have  known  her  for  nearly  four  months,  and  I 
believe  I  loved  her  from  the  first  time  I  saw  her," 
replied  Armand. 

"  Would  you  forsake  your  people  for  her  sake?  " 

"Yes!  but  would  that  be  necessary?"  he  asked 
hastily.  "  Why  cannot  she  go  to  my  own  people 
and  receive  the  benefits  of  the  wealth  which  I  can 
bestow  on  her?  Therese,  do  you  not  remember  the 
dear  sisters  who  cared  for  you  and  taught  you  to 
love  the  church  of  your  father?  At  Montreal  wealth 
and  comforts  await  you  as  well  as  your  daughter! 
Does  not  your  French  blood  call  you  sometimes  to 
forsake  your  forest  life?  Would  not  the  sachem 
follow  his  child? " 

"Ah,  you  do  not  know  the  sachem:  he  respects 
me,  he  is  proud  of  me  as  through  my  knowledge  he 
is  a  great  power  in  the  council  of  the  Iroquois.  He 
loves  his  daughter,  but  he  loves  his  people  more.  No, 
he  would  not  forsake  them  for  all  of  the  charms 
of  civilization,  of  which  he  knows  but  little, 
now." 


Legend  of  Therese  77 

"  Then  what  do  you  propose  ?  Do  you  wish  me  to 
marry  Marie?  If  so,  I  am  ready,  but  where  is  there 
a  priest  who  could  marry  us?" 

"  Father  La  Moyne  is  among  the  Oneidas,  but  that 
is  miles  away,"  she  replied  musingly,  and  for  some 
minutes  they  sat  in  silence.  With  a  sudden  move- 
ment, she  arose  and  strode  back  and  forth  along  the 
woodland  path,  with  hands  clinched  and  her  dusky 
countenance  aglow  with  passionate  emotion;  silently, 
but  actively  alert,  she  gazed  with  unseeing  eyes, 
straight  before  her. 

At  last  she  paused  in  front  of  the  young  man 
and  exclaimed,  "  Pierre-Annand,  look  at  me — what 
do  you  see,  what  am  I  ?  " 

With  pale  cheeks  and  tender  eyes  he  gazed  at  her 
for  a  moment.  She  stood  before  him  with  all  the 
barbaric  splendor  of  an  Indian  queen:  tall  and  mag- 
nificent in  form,  with  shoulders  and  bust  of  exquisite 
contour,  from  which  hung  the  soft  scant  folds  of  a 
deer-skin  garment,  beaded  and  fringed,  reaching 
nearly  to  her  ankles,  and  with  moccasins  of  the  same 
material,  richly  ornamented.  Around  her  neck  and 
supported  by  her  rounded  bosom  hung  a  priceless 
necklace  of  various  colored  stones  and  wampum.  She 
had  black  glossy  hair,  and  eyes  that  looked  sternly 
and  unrelenting  into  his. 

"  What  am  I  ?  "  she  repeated  in  a  fierce  voice. 

He  looked  at  the  dusky  skin  of  her  arms,  which 
were  bare  to  the  shoulder,  and  at  her  face  of  cop- 
per hue,  bronzed  and  darkened  by  her  life  in  the 
open,  and  with  a  smile  on  his  lips  and  a  look  of 


78  Legend  of  Therese 

admiration  in  his  eyes,  he  rephed,  "  You  are  the 
grandest  and  most  beautiful  woman  I  ever  saw." 

"But  what  am  I,  a  Huron  or  a  French  woman? 
Look! "  she  said,  as  she  impetuously  raised  her  dress 
slightly,  disclosing  w^hite  skin  above  her  dusky  ankles. 
Dropping  her  dress  quickly,  she  tore  her  necklace 
of  wampum  from  her  shoulders,  and  with  a  quick 
movement,  bared  a  bosom  with  skin  as  white  as  his 
own,  below  the  dusky  outline  of  her  neck. 

Lying  upon  her  white  breast  was  a  rosary  from 
which  depended  a  cross  of  solid  gold,  the  upper  arm 
of  which  was  encircled  by  a  ring  bearing  the  crest 
of  Loreles,  set  with  a  diamond  of  large  size. 

"  Am  I  a  Huron  or  am  I  my  father's  daughter?  '* 
and  as  she  gazed  at  the  white  flesh,  her  eyes  soft- 
ened, and  a  tender  smile  wreathed  her  full  lips. 

Readjusting  her  robe,  she  said:  "  Armand,  the  first 
time  I  saw  you,  my  Huron  blood  was  in  the  ascend- 
ency, and  I  coveted  you  with  a  passion  that  was  not 
holy.  I  did  not  know  that  you  had  seen  Marie,  and 
in  the  moonlight  that  night  when  you  told  her  your 
story,  my  Indian  blood  made  me  a  murderess  in 
thought.  You  told  her  your  name,  and  it  stayed  my 
hand;  you  told  the  story  of  my  father,  and  it 
saved  your  life.  Go  now  to  Marie  and  be  kind  to 
her." 

The  village  of  Tionondaroga  was  situated  at  the 
junction  of  the  Mohawk  and  Schoharie  rivers.  Ex- 
tending for  miles  east  and  west  along  the  INIohawk, 
and  of  width  varying  from  a  quarter  to  a  half  mile,  lay 
fertile  flats,  enriched  by  ages  of  decayed  vegetation 


Legend  of  Ther^se  79 

and  the  overflow  of  the  streams,  and  having  mold  of 
great  depth  and  of  uncommon  fertihty. 

Near  the  east  bank  of  the  Schoharie  stood  the  first 
castle,  so  called  on  account  of  its  precarious  protec- 
tion by  palisades  of  trunks  of  trees,  set  closely  to- 
gether, about  twelve  feet  high. 

Inside  of  the  stockade  were  long  houses,  or  com- 
munal dwellings,  of  varying  lengths,  but  about  twenty 
or  twenty-five  feet  wide.  Some  of  the  long  houses 
were  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  others  twenty,  thirty,  and  sixty  feet  long, 
the  largest  sheltering  from  fifteen  to  twenty  families. 

In  1660  the  Mohawks  were  said  to  have  been  prob- 
ably at  their  greatest  strength,  as  they  could  muster 
about  three  hundred  warriors,  at  their  three  castles. 
The  population  of  the  castle  called  the  "  Eastern  door 
of  the  long  house  "  could  not  have  been  greater  than 
three  hundred  men,  women,  and  children.  They  were 
a  sedentary  people,  although  warlike  in  the  extreme, 
and  raised  corn,  beans,  pumpkins,  melons,  tobacco, 
and  edible  roots,  in  quantities  to  supply  the  habitants 
with  food  for  the  winter  season. 

In  October,  1666,  the  flats  along  the  Mohawk  were 
yellow  with  ripening  grain.  A  large  proportion  had 
been  garnered  and  stored  in  their  storehouses,  which 
were  generally  nothing  but  a  cache  or  hole  in  the 
ground,  lined  with  bark.  Peace  and  plenty  pervaded 
this  primitive  village  of  the  aborigines,  however  tur- 
bulent the  breast  of  the  sachem's  wife,  and  that  of 
the  "  white  stranger." 

But  the  problem  that  perplexed  Therese  was  not 


8o  Legend  of  Therese 

to  be  solved  by  her,  but  by  the  sachem.  He  had 
been  on  a  visit  to  the  upper  castle,  and  returning 
in  his  canoe,  overtook  another  voyager,  as  he 
paddled  to  midstream,  the  Mohawk  being  at  its 
flood  from  a  violent  rain-storm.  The  canoeman 
proved  to  be  a  black-gown  from  the  Oneidas.  As 
he  drew  nearer  to  the  canoe,  the  sachem  recognized 
Father  La  Moyne,  who  was  on  his  way  to  Fort 
Orange. 

There  was  a  strong  feeling  among  the  INIohawks 
against  the  Jesuits,  but  Therese  had  been  kind  to 
La  Moyne,  and  the  pleasure  he  derived  in  conversing 
Avith  one  who  could  speak  his  own  language,  made 
him  an  occasional  visitor  at  the  sachem's  cabin. 
When  they  arrived  off  the  landing  in  front  of  the 
lower  Mohawk  village,  the  father  was  loath  to  stop, 
as  the  current  was  strong  and  he  was  anxious  to  take 
advantage  of  it,  his  visit  to  Fort  Orange  being  im- 
portant. The  sachem,  however,  urged  him  to  stop 
and  meet  the  "  white  stranger,"  and  La  Moyne 
finally  consented;  the  sachem  promising  to  go  with 
him  in  the  morning  as  far  as  the  Juchtanunda. 

Therese  had  been  watching  for  the  return  of  the 
sachem  and  had  descried  the  canoes  as  they 
rounded  the  sharp  bend  then  and  now  known  as  the 
*'  Cold  Spring."  It  was  with  feelings  of  mingled 
joy  and  anxiety  that  she  recognized  Father  La  Moyne 
as  the  companion  of  the  sachem.  The  sick  runner 
was  regaining  consciousness,  and  she  was  glad  that 
the  sachem  had  returned,  to  relieve  her  of  the  secret 
of  the  coming  of  the  French  troops.     Now  that  the 


Legend  of  Therese  8i 

Jesuit  father  was  to  be  their  guest,  she  accepted  the 
incident  as  the  »work  of  the  "  Holy  JNIother,"  which 
seemed  to  bring  calm  to  her  troubled  soul  and  a 
solution  to  the  question  of  the  marriage  of  Armand 
and  Marie. 

Upon  their  arrival  near  the  domicile,  and  after 
warm  and  hospitable  greetings,  she  left  the  priest 
with  the  Frenchman;  La  Moyne's  face  beaming  with 
joy  at  this  chance  encounter  with  a  man  so  near  the 
Governor,  and  consequently,  the  dignitaries  of  the 
church  at  Quebec  and  INIontreal. 

As  Therese  drew  near  the  cabin,  she  related  to 
the  sachem  the  coming  of  the  runner,  who  reminds 
one  of  a  ]\Iarathon  runner,  in  succumbing  to  fatigue 
as  he  half  breathed  the  tale  he  bore.  The  sachem 
listened  stoically,  and  entering  the  cabin  he  heard 
the  tale  in  full.  Turning  to  Therese  he  said:  "  You 
were  wise  to  keep  this  story  secret  until  my  return. 
Say  nothing  to  La  INIoyne  about  the  approach  of 
the  troops."  And  then  she  told  him  Armand's  story, 
and  of  her  discovery  of  the  mutual  love  of  Armand 
and  Marie,  and  his  willingness  and  desire  to  marry 
Marie,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  Roman  Church. 
After  a  silence  of  some  minutes  the  sachem  turned 
to  Therese,  and  said: 

"  Armand  must  know  of  the  approach  and  purpose 
of  the  army  of  De  Tracy.  It  will  be  a  supreme  test 
of  his  love  for  ma  fiUe.  And  on  his  decision  lies 
his  fate." 

"  Oh,  sachem!  what  would  be  that  fate,  if  he  de- 
cides for  his  countrymen  ? "  asked  Therese,  standing 


82  LcQfend  of  Therese 


& 


before  him  with  startled  eyes,  and  with  clenched  hands 
across  her  heaving  bosom. 

"  I  know  not,  but  it  will  be  as  the  council  decides," 
and  turning  with  bowed  head  he  strode  into  the  for- 
est. Therese,  signalling  Armand  to  follow  her,  pur- 
sued the  same  path  that  her  husband  had  taken, 
Marie  with  the  priest  slowly  following. 

As  they  caught  up  with  the  sachem,  he  said  to 
Therese,  "  Tell  him." 

"  Armand,"  said  the  half-breed,  "  the  sick  runner 
brought  the  news  that  De  Tracy  is  approaching  with 
a  large  army,  well  equipped  with  guns,  and  cannon, 
for  the  destruction  of  my  people  and  of  their  vil- 
lages. In  ten  days  they  will  be  before  our  feeble 
fortification.  We  shall  be  annihilated;  we  cannot 
withstand  them;  they  are  powerful.  De  Tracy  is 
your  kinsman,  he  has  come  to  rescue  you.  Go  to 
him  and  leave  us  to  our  fate." 

"  And  you,  you  and  Marie,  will  you  not  return  to 
your  people? " 

"  The  sachem  is  my  husband  and  her  father,  we 
will  stay  with  his  people." 

JNIarie  and  Therese  had  drawn  close  to  the  sachem. 

Armand  had  stood  with  arms  folded  and  head  bent 
while  the  above  conference  had  taken  place.  Now 
he  raised  his  eyes  and,  emotion  swelling  his  breast,  he 
stepped  quickly  to  Marie's  side,  and  with  an  ai*m 
around  her  waist,  he  exclaimed,  "  No!  nor  will  I  go," 
and  looking  into  Marie's  eyes  he  pressed  her  to  his 
side  with  a  strong  embrace.  "  I  will  stay  here  and 
your  people  shall  be  my  people."     Turning  impetu- 


Legend  of  Ther^se  83 

ously  to  the  sachem,  he  said,  "  Strip  me  of  my  gar- 
ments, stain  my  body,  blacken  my  hair,  give  me  of 
your  clothing  and  place  arms  in  mj''  hands,  and  I 
will  stay  with  you  and  fight  for  my  wife,  JNIarie." 
Then  turning  to  Therese,  he  said :  "  Call  Father  La 
Moyne,  he  shall  marry  us  here  and  now." 

After  the  brief  ceremony,  Armand  was  all  action, 
and  in  impetuous  French  he  urged  that  scouts  be 
sent  out,  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  troops  and 
the  probable  time  of  their  arrival.  He  pointed  out 
that  it  would  be  suicide  to  make  any  resistance.  He 
urged  that  men  be  sent  to  the  second  castle,  urging 
them  not  to  think  of  resistance,  but  turn  the  attention 
of  the  whole  population  to  the  saving  of  their  stores, 
by  removing  them  into  the  forests.  Some  of  the 
standing  grain  would  probably  have  to  be  left,  but 
their  household  effects  and  stores  of  food  could  be 
removed.  Their  frail  stockade  and  frailer  buildings, 
if  destroyed,  could  be  replaced.  A  retreat  to  the 
hills  would  save  their  stores  and  their  lives.  If  any 
resistance  was  to  be  made,  it  should  be  at  the  third 
castle,  where  he  advised  that  the  warriors  should  be 
assembled,  but  he  insisted  that  all  non-combatants 
should  be  hid. 

Work  was  begun  at  the  lower  castle  at  once, 
with  vigor,  that  all  grain  that  could  be  transported 
to  the  forest  might  be  securely  concealed  before  the 
scouts  or  van  of  the  troops  made  their  appearance 
at  the  deserted  village. 

The  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  villages  of  the 
Mohawks  has  been  told  on  other  pages  {q.  v.). 


84  Legend  of  Therese 

After  the  departure  of  the  troops,  who  did  not  see 
Armand,  the  whole  population  turned  their  attention 
to  the  rebuilding  of  their  villages,  the  inliabitants  of 
the  lower  castle  receiving  assistance  from  the  Dutch 
at  Fort  Orange,  so  that  in  a  short  time  long-houses 
and  cabins  were  constructed,  the  dwellings  being 
erected  in  a  new  place  in  the  vicinity  of  their  con- 
cealed stores,  so  that  by  the  beginning  of  winter  they 
were  comfortably  housed. 

Although  very  few,  if  any,  of  the  Mohawks  lost 
their  lives,  still  the  display  of  the  strength  and  energy 
of  the  French  had  a  salutary  effect  on  these  fierce 
warriors ;  a  treaty  of  peace  was  enacted,  and  the  Jesuit 
fathers  were  allowed  to  establish  missions,  and  build 
chapels  where,  before  the  raid,  they  had  been  vigor- 
ously excluded. 

In  time  some  converts  were  made  and  between 
thirty  and  forty  of  the  people  of  the  lower  castle, 
among  them  the  family  of  the  sachem,  were  removed 
to  the  Mission  of  Caughnawaga  on  the  St.  Lawrence. 
Thus  at  last,  after  about  five  years'  residence  among 
the  Mohawks,  Armand  returned  to  civilization  where 
he  could  use  his  great  wealth  for  the  benefit  of  Marie, 
and  the  family  of  Therese. 

Loreles's  life  with  the  Mohawks  could  not  have 
been  uninteresting,  situated  as  he  was,  only  thirty- 
five  miles  from  Fort  Orange,  and  one  hundred  and 
more  miles  from  New  Amsterdam.  Being  a  man  of 
w-ealth.  New  Amsterdam  was  more  easy  of  access  to 
him  than  Quebec,  as  the  communication  was  by  water 
and  hence  the  journey  thither  one  involving  little 


Legend  of  Ther^se  85 

hardship.     Moreover   his    financial   affairs   could   be 
more  easily  attended  to  at  New  Amsterdam. 

The  first  winter  of  his  marriage  to  Marie  was 
passed  in  the  old  Dutch  town,  and  he  spared  no  ex- 
pense in  adorning  his  wife  with  garments  from  Paris 
and  with  jewels  from  Amsterdam,  Holland.  In  fact 
the  beauty  of  the  Mohawk  princess,  and  the  gor- 
geousness  of  the  attire  of  the  wife  of  the  wealthy 
French  gentleman,  made  her  entry  into  the  families 
of  the  rich  and  great  easy,  and  the  winter,  and  in 
fact  all  winters,  were  passed  in  a  round  of  pleasure. 

So  much  for  the  legend  of  Therese.  Perhaps  I 
owe  it  to  the  reader  to  tell  how  much  of  it  is  fact  and 
how  much  embellishment. 

Therese  was  an  historic  personage.  She  was  a  half- 
breed,  her  father  being  a  French  gentleman.  She 
was  educated  by  the  Ursulines  at  the  first  rude  semi- 
nary at  Montreal,  from  which  she  was  graduated  ( ?) 
after  three  years'  instruction.  She  was  captured  by 
the  Mohawks  with  Father  Isaac  Jogues's  party  in 
1642  and  taken  to  the  Mohawks'  country,  where  she 
married  a  INIohawk  chief. 

Chazy  was  killed  on  the  river  which  now  bears  his 
name,  and  Loreles,  a  cousin  of  De  Tracy,  was  cap- 
tured. The  expedition  of  De  Tracy  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  Mohawk  village,  as  well  as  the  presence 
of  Father  La  Moyne  at  Oneida,  are  also  established 
facts. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    CAUGHNAWAGA    OR    PRAYING    INDIANS POPULAR 

ERRORS    CORRECTED THEIR    EARLY    SETTLEMENTS 

ON  THE  ST.  LAWRENCE  RIVER KRYN,  THE  GREAT 

MOHAAVK     CHIEF SUFFERINGS     OF     THE     JESUIT 

PRIESTS WITHDRAWAL    OF    CONVERTS    FROM    SAV- 
AGE COMPANIONS 

WE  frequently  read  articles  about  the  Caughna- 
waga  Indians,  and  attempts  are  made  to 
explain  who  they  are.  In  most  cases  the  explana- 
tions are  erroneous  or  misleading.  A  recent  article 
informs  the  public  that  they  were  "  formed  from  the 
Seven  Nations."  Another  statement  says :  "  They 
were  the  descendants  of  the  Indians  who  were  left 
in  the  Algonquin  Confederacy  after  the  Five  Nations 
revolted  and  subdued  the  Confederacy."  Both  of 
these  accounts  are  erroneous. 

In  fact,  there  was  no  Algonquin  Confederacy.  The 
only  confederacy  of  American  Indians  that  is  known 
to  history  is  that  of  the  Five  Nations,  or  the  con- 
federacy of  the  Iroquois.  But  even  that  was  not  a 
union  of  all  the  Iroquois  tribes.  The  people  known 
as  the  "  Algonquin  Indians  "  is  not  a  union  of  tribes, 
but  a  nation  that  at  the  advent  of  the  white  man  in 
the   New  World   was   scattered  far  and  wide   over 

86 


Caughnawagas  87 

North  America.  They  were  tribes  with  a  common 
language,  but  with  as  many  dialects  as  there  were 
tribes. 

While  there  was  an  occasional  combination  of  tribes 
for  warlike  purposes,  none  of  these  combinations 
could  be  dignified  with  the  name  of  confederacy. 
The  conflict  that  resulted  in  the  peace  of  1671  was 
not  a  war  to  prevent  the  Iroquois  from  withdrawing 
from  the  "  Algonquin  Confederacy,"  but  a  war  of 
extermination,  which  had  been  raging  for  more  than 
half  a  century,  waged  by  the  Iroquois  (at  that 
time  composed  of  five  nations)  against  their  kindred, 
the  Huron-Iroquois,  the  Neuters,  the  Eries,  and  the 
Tobacco  Nation,  all  of  whom  spoke  dialects  of  the 
Iroquois  language.  Into  this  war  were  also  drawn 
the  Montagues,  Ottawas,  Ojibwas,  and  Adirondacks 
of  Canada,  who  spoke  dialects  of  the  language  of 
the  Algonquins.  The  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations,  at 
this  time  had  been  established  in  the  JNIohawk  Valley 
and  westward  for  nearly  a  century,  and  in  that  time 
had  subdued  or  destroyed  all  the  surrounding  tribes, 
so  that  peace  reigned  because  there  were  no  more 
enemies  to  conquer. 

At  this  period,  the  tribes  in  New  York  State  and 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  Great  Lakes  (the  tribes  marked 
with  a  star  being  enemies  of  the  Five  Nations)  were 
as  follows: 

Algonquian 

*Algonquin  or  Adirondacks 
Etchemins 


88  Caughnawagas 

*Montagnes 

JNIicmac 

Souriqiiois 
*Abenakis 
*Ottawas 

Shawnees 
*Delawares 
*Ojibwas 
*Mascoutins 

Kicapoo 

Illinois 

Iroquoian 

Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Onondagas,  Cayugas,  Senecas, 
— the  Five  Nations 

Tuscaroras  in  North  Carolina 
*Eries 
*Neuters 
*Huron-Iroquois 

Cherokees 
*Andastes  or  Susquehannocks 
*Tobacco  Nation 

In  order  to  make  it  clear  how  the  appellation  of 
Caughnawaga  came  into  existence,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary to  go  back  to  the  Jesuit  missions  of  Canada  in 
the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  to  the 
advent  in  the  Mohawk  Valley,  of  Fathers  Jogues  and 
Bressani,  who  came  via  Lake  Champlain  and  Lake 
George,  in  1642  and  in  1646  respectively. 

The  efforts  of  the  Jesuits  to  convert  the  savages 


Caughnawagas  89 

of  New  France  to  Catholicism  did  not  meet  with  any 
substantial  success  during  the  early  years  of  the  mis- 
sion, say  from  1610  to  1635,  owing  to  the  nomadic 
life  of  the  Indians  whom  they  met  in  the  vicinity  of 
Quebec,  Three  Rivers,  and  at  Port  Royal  (now 
Annapolis,  Nova  Scotia).  Although  they  occasion- 
ally had  some  promising  converts,  during  the  seasons 
that  different  tribes  visited  the  above  places  to  ex- 
change furs  for  warlike  implements,  and  brass 
kettles,  blankets,  etc.,  the  Indians  were  sure  to  re- 
turn to  their  former  beliefs  when  they  again  entered 
the  forests.  From  the  very  beginning  the  Jesuits 
saw  the  necessity  of  locating  these  nomadic  tribes  in 
some  permanent  place  and  of  teaching  them  to  fear 
the  devil;  for  that  was  about  all  the  religion  that 
the  Jesuits  had  inculcated  in  the  savages  at  that  early 
date.  Not  being  conversant  with  the  language  of 
the  Indians,  the  Jesuits  taught  them  to  fear  the  tor- 
ments of  hell,  by  presenting  before  them  horrible 
pictures  of  devils  torturing  lost  souls  with  pitch-forks 
and  of  victims  writhing  in  brilliant  red  flames.  Even 
after  they  had  mastered  the  Huron  and  Algonquin 
dialects,  the  fathers  were  unable  to  present  the  beauties 
and  principles  of  their  religion,  because  they  found 
no  words  in  the  Indians'  language  by  which  the  sav- 
ages could  be  taught  the  attributes  of  the  Deity. 
Goodness,  charity,  faith,  hope,  love,  were  words 
unknown  in  the  language  of  the  Algonquins. 

North  of  the  upper  St.  Lawrence  and  on  the 
borders  of  the  Great  Lakes  the  Jesuits  found  the 
Hurons,  Tobacco  Nation,  and  the  Neutrals;  tribes 


90  Jesuit  Missions 

who  cultivated  land  and  raised  corn,  beans,  tobacco, 
and  pumpkins,  had  large  stationary  villages,  and  who 
lived  a  peaceful  life,  when  not  molested  by  the  ter- 
rible Mohawks,  and  other  tribes  of  the  Iroquois.  As 
early  as  1636,  Jesuit  missions  were  established  among 
these  sedentary  tribes  with  varied  success,  but  some 
years  later  many  converts  were  made. 

The  Jesuits  early  saw  the  necessity  of  withdrawing 
their  converts  from  their  savage  companions,  and  al- 
though many  women  and  children  were  somewhat 
steadfast  to  the  white  man's  God,  they  were  almost 
sure  to  lapse,  when  the  influence  of  the  priests  was 
withdrawn,  owing  to  the  ridicule  and  persecution  of 
their  companions. 

For  many  j'-ears  these  devoted  priests  labored 
among  the  savage  tribes,  ministering  to  their  physical 
needs  and  living  as  they  lived,  in  the  hope  of  being 
able  to  baptize  a  new-born  infant,  whose  hours  were 
few,  or  to  administer  the  last  sacrament  to  a  poor 
dying  woman,  or  perhaps  a  tortured  prisoner. 

But  at  last  their  efforts  were  set  at  naught  by  the 
war  with  the  Iroquois,  which,  in  1649,  terminated  with 
the  extinction,  as  nations,  of  the  Hurons  and  the 
allied  tribes,  the  Tobacco  Nation,  the  Neutrals,  and 
the  Eries  or  Cat  Nation.  It  was  during  this  war 
that  many  Jesuit  priests  met  with  horrible  death  by 
torture  of  the  most  cruel  character.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  Brebeuf,  Gabriel  Lalamant,  Antonie  Dan- 
iel, Garnier,  Chabanel,  and  others  lost  their  lives  in 
the  discharge  of  their  duties  as  missionaries  to  the 
above  tribes  of  Indians.     Isaac  Jogues,  Rene  Goupil, 


h 


X 


Jesuit  Missions  91 

and  Lalande  had  been  massacred  in  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  and  Bressani  mutilated  and  sold  to  the  Dutch 
at  Fort  Orange  b}^  the  Indian  woman  to  whom  he 
had  been  given  as  a  slave. 

After  this  for  a  number  of  years  there  was  a  sem- 
blance of  peace  w^ith  the  Iroquois,  because  there  were 
no  enemies  to  conquer,  and  the  devoted  Jesuits  began 
to  lay  plans  for  establishing  missions  among  the  Iro- 
quois. In  1654,  Father  La  JMoyne  was  sent  to  the 
Onondagas,  and  in  1655  to  the  INIohawks.  Dablon 
and  Chaumonot  were  also  sent  to  the  Onondagas  who, 
in  1656,  urged  that  a  mission  be  established  among 
them.  In  response,  Father  Le  Mercier  and  two  other 
priests,  Fremin  and  Menard,  and  about  fifty  French- 
men, set  out  to  establish  a  settlement  among  the 
Onondagas.  A  chapel  was  built  on  Onondaga  Lake, 
and  the  Jesuits  seemingly  had  some  success  in  making 
converts;  other  tribes  also  asked  for  fathers  to  settle 
among  them.  This  first  mission  came  to  grief  before 
the  end  of  the  j^ear,  however,  the  French  barely  es- 
caping with  their  lives.  Their  escape  is  graphically 
told  by  Father  Paul  Ragueneau  in  the  Jesuit 
Relation  of  1657-1658. 

In  1656,  Chaumonot  and  Menard  were  among  the 
Cayugas;  Dablon,  among  the  Onondagas;  and  La 
Moyne,  among  the  Mohawks  and  Oneidas.  Very 
little  headway,  however,  was  made  among  the  Onei- 
das and  Mohawks  on  account  of  their  proximity  to 
the  Dutch,  of  whom  they  procured  brandy  and  whis- 
key, a  traffic  of  which  La  Moyne  bitterly  complained. 
After  the  expeditions  of  DeCourcelle  and  De  Tracy  in 


92  Jesuit  Missions 

1666,  these  fierce  warriors  became  more  tractable,  and 
Fathers  Pierron  and  Fremin  were  sent  to  the  jMo- 
hawks,  and  Bruyas  to  the  Oneidas.  In  1669  Father 
Boniface  was  also  sent  to  the  Mohawk  mission,  and 
the  same  year  we  find  Fathers  Jullien  Garnier  and 
Pierre  Millet  at  Onondaga,  Etienne  de  Carhiel 
among  the  Cayugas,  and  Fremin  among  the  Senecas. 

The  mission  at  Onondaga  seems  to  have  had  better 
success  in  making  converts  than  had  the  fathers  at 
the  lower  villages,  and  in  1670,  among  others,  the 
great  Onondaga  chief  Ga-ra-kon-tie,  was  converted 
and  baptized  in  the  cathedral  of  Quebec,  Governor 
Courcelle  acting  as  godfather. 

Father  Fremin  in  his  report  of  the  Mohawk  mis- 
sion says  that  "  In  the  last  eight  months  I  baptized 
fifty-three  persons,  who  have  nearly  all  gone  to 
heaven,"  but  he  also  says  that  he  had  only  baptized 
three  adults,  women.  The  same  year  Fathers  Be- 
schefer  and  Nicolas  were  added  to  this  mission.  In 
1672,  the  missionaries  to  the  Iroquios  were  as  follows: 
to  the  Mohawks,  Fathers  Bruyas  and  Boniface;  to  the 
Oneidas,  Father  Millet;  to  the  Onondagas,  Father 
de  Lamberville;  to  the  Cayugas,  Father  Carhiel;  to 
the  Senecas,  Fathers  Raffeix  and  Garnier. 

About  1669  or  1670  the  French  selected  a  beautiful 
spot  on  the  south  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  about 
midway  between  the  town  of  Montreal  and  the  rapids 
of  St.  Louis,  as  a  resting  place  for  the  missionaries 
among  the  Iroquois,  the  Algonquins,  and  the  Otta- 
was,  and  as  a  depot  for  furnishing  them  more  easily 
the  things  needful  for  their  maintenance.    The  throngs 


Kryn  93 

of  savages  resorting  thither  from  all  directions  made 
it  necessary  to  maintain  two  priests  who  were  well 
versed  in  their  different  languages,  in  order  that  the 
Christian  Indians  from  their  several  countries  might 
find  at  this  place  spiritual  succor.  Eighteen  or 
tw^enty  Christian  Indian  families  had  already  settled 
there,  attracted  by  the  beauty  and  advantages  of  the 
site.  It  is  described  as  an  elevated  plain,  watered 
by  a  little  river  of  great  beauty  abounding  with  fish, 
and  extending  for  two  leagues  along  the  St.  Lawrence 
River.  It  was  called  La  Prairie  de  la  Magdelene, 
abbreviated  to  La  Prairie.  None  but  Praying  In- 
dians w^ere  allowed  to  settle  here,  and  no  liquor  or 
drunkenness  w^as  permitted  within  the  bounds  of  this 
beautiful  spot. 

Indians  of  all  nations  were  found  there, — Hurons, 
Andastes,  Abanakis,  Onondagas,  Senecas,  Cayugas, 
Algonquins,  and  of  the  Neutral  Nation,  manj^  of 
whom  had  been  dwellers  among  the  Iroquois,  as 
prisoners  of  war. 

In  the  year  1672,  fifteen  Praying  Indians  of  the 
Mohawks  went  to  live  with  the  Christian  Hurons  at 
Notre  Dame  de  Foy,  near  Quebec.  In  the  year  1673, 
Kryn,  the  great  Mohawk,  visited  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  was  so  charmed  by  the  affairs  at  La  Prairie  that 
he  became  a  convert  to  the  Catholic  faith,  returned  to 
Gandawague,  his  home  on  the  JNIohawk,  became  re- 
conciled to  his  wife  from  whom  he  had  separated, 
and  after  a  few  days  of  exhortation,  induced  between 
thirty  and  forty  men,  women,  and  children  to  accom- 
pany him  to  Canada  with  the  purpose  of  settling  at 


94  Kryn 

La  Prairie.  This  is  the  largest  number  of  Mohawks 
that  we  can  find  who  deserted  their  homes  on  the 
^lohawk  and  settled  at  La  Prairie. 

This  Christian  settlement  was  increased  in  popu- 
lation by  the  Jesuit  priests  at  all  the  missions,  who 
urged  converts  to  forsake  their  old  homes,  that  they 
might  worship  God  according  to  the  instruction  of 
the  priests  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

In  this  manner  the  population  was  made  up  of 
Praying  Indians  recruited  from  all  the  tribes 
wherever  the  Jesuits  had  got  a  foothold,  and  in  a 
few  years  the  settlement  was  moved  up  the  river 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  St.  Louis  Rapids,  and  the  mis- 
sion, which  bore  the  name  St.  rran9ois  Xavier  du 
Prez  (St.  Francis  Xavier  of  the  Prairie),  was 
changed  to  St.  Francois  Xavier  du  Sault,  or  St.  Fran- 
cis Xavier  "  at  the  rapids."  A  few  years  later  this 
was  called  by  the  Indian  name  Caughnawaga,  mean- 
ing "  at  the  rapids."  Hence  the  term  Caughnawaga, 
which  belongs  to  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  not  to 
the  Mohawk. 

Kryn,  the  great  Mohawk,  soon  became  a  leader 
among  the  Praying  Indians,  and  was  undoubtedly  a 
warrior  of  great  ability.  It  was  he  that  led  the  Mo- 
hawks against  the  Mahicans  in  1669,  when  the  latter 
tribe  was  driven  to  the  Connecticut  River,  from  which 
they  did  not  return  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
The  engagement  took  place  near  Hoffman,  New 
York,  and  gave  the  name  "  Kinaquarione  "  to  the 
high  hill  west  of  the  station,  meaning  "  the  place  where 
the  last  great  battle  was  fought." 


Kryn  95 

In  1690,  he  also  led  the  Caughnawaga,  or  Praying 
Indians,  in  the  attack  and  destruction  of  Schenectady. 
Probably  the  fact  that  the  most  prominent  warrior 
of  Caughnawaga  was  a  noted  Mohawk  chieftain  has 
led  to  the  erroneous  inference  that  all  the  Praying 
Indians  at  the  above  named  place  were  also  jMohawks, 
but  this  was  not  the  case,  as  they  were  made  up  of 
converts  from  all  tribes  of  New  France  and  from  the 
Iroquois.  Kryn  was  killed  in  1690,  while  with  a 
war  party  near  Salmon  River. 


CHAPTER  VII 

MOHAWKS    NOT    ALWAYS    VICTORIOUS STORY    OF    PIS- 
CARET^  THE  AEGONQUIN ACTIVITY  OF  MOHAWKS 

AGAINST      THE      HURONS CAPTURE      OF      FATHER 

BRESSANI CANNIBALISM    OF   THE   MOHAWKS 

nrHE  Mohawks  were  not  always  victorious  in  their 
*  conflicts  with  the  Algonquins.  Among  the 
Algonquins  was  an  Indian  called  by  the  French 
Piscaret,  a  man  of  large  stature,  athletic,  and  fleet. 
He  had  received  baptism  and  behaved  like  a  Chris- 
tian. In  midsummer  of  1642  a  band  of  fifteen  Algon- 
quins, of  whom  Piscaret  was  the  leader,  was  put  to 
flight  by  the  Mohawks,  four  captured  or  killed,  and 
a  number  of  those  who  returned  were  wounded, 
wretched  and  naked,  and  without  arms.  It  was  their 
firm  belief  that  Piscaret  and  eight  of  their  people 
had  been  surprised  and  killed  on  the  spot;  in  fact 
they  asserted  that  they  had  seen  their  arms  among 
the  victors.  But  Piscaret,  who  seemed  to  have  as  many 
lives  as  a  cat,  returned  in  a  few  d/iys  without  wounds. 
Once,  it  is  said,  he  entered  an  Iroquois  town  on  a 
dark  night  and  hid  himself  in  a  large  pile  of  wood, 
from  which  later  he  crept  into  a  lodge,  and  finding 
the  inmates  asleep,  killed  them  with  his  war-club, 
scalped  them,  and  withdrew  to  the  wood-pile. 

In  the  morning  the  inmates  of  the  village  were 

96 


Story  of  Piscaret  97 

furious  and  scattered  through  the  woods  in  every 
direction  in  a  vain  effort  to  discover  the  intruder. 
The  second  night  he  again  emerged  from  his  retreat 
and  repeated  his  exploit  of  the  night  before.  On 
the  third  night  every  family  placed  sentinels,  and 
Piscaret,  stealthily  creeping  from  lodge  to  lodge, 
found  watches  everywhere.  At  length  he  saw  a 
sentinel  asleep  at  one  end  of  a  lodge,  though  the 
watcher  at  the  other  end  was  awake  and  vigilant. 
Pushing  aside  the  frail  bark  door,  he  struck  the 
sleeper  a  fatal  blow,  j^elled  his  war-cry,  and  fled.  The 
whole  village  swarmed  after  him,  but  being  a  very 
swift  runner,  Piscaret  easily  kept  ahead  of  them  dur- 
ing the  darkness.  When  daylight  came  he  would 
occasionally  show  himself  to  his  pursuers,  in  order  to 
lure  them  on,  when  he  would  utter  his  war-cry,  and 
soon  distance  them  again.  At  night  all  but  six  had 
given  up  the  chase,  and  these  exhausted  were  about 
to  give  up  in  despair. 

Piscaret  discovered  a  hollow  tree  and  turning  aside 
from  the  trail  crept  in  and  hid  himself,  while  the 
Iroquois,  losing  trace  of  him  in  the  dark,  lay  down 
to  sleep  near  by.  During  the  night  he  emerged  from 
his  hiding  place  and  approached  his  pursuers  and, 
with  rapid  strokes  of  his  war-club,  slew  them  all. 
Stopping  only  long  enough  to  tear  their  scalps  from 
their  heads,  he  resumed  his  homeward  journey  in 
triumph.  Many  other  stories  of  this  wily  warrior 
are  told,  but  we  will  quote  but  one  other,  which  bears 
on  the  subject  we  are  pursuing.  It  is  related  by 
Bartholomew  Vimont,  a  Jesuit  priest. 


98  Story  of  Piscaret 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1645,  Piscaret,  with  six 
other  converted  Indians,  set  out  on  a  M^ar  party  and, 
after  dragging  their  canoes  over  the  frozen  St.  Law- 
rence, launched  them  on  the  river  Richelieu.  As- 
cending to  Lake  Champlain,  they  hid  themselves  in 
the  leafless  forests  of  Grand  Island,  near  Cumber- 
land Head,  watching  eagerly  for  their  enemies,  the 
Mohawks. 

One  day  they  heard  a  shot  on  the  mainland. 
"  Come,  friends,"  says  Piscaret,  "  we  must  get  our 
dinner;  perhaps  it  will  be  our  last,  for  we  must  die 
before  we  run."  Having  dined  to  their  contentment, 
the  philosophic  warriors  prepared  for  action. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  French  at  this  time,  or 
rather  one  of  the  schemes  of  the  Jesuits  to  induce  adult 
Indians  to  embrace  Christianitj%  that  only  converted 
savages  could  purchase  firearms.  As  the  party  is 
said  to  have  embraced  Christianity,  they  were  prob- 
ably better  armed  than  the  Mohawk  warriors. 

One  of  Piscaret's  band  was  sent  to  reconnoitre  and 
soon  returned  and  reported  that  two  canoes  full  of 
Mohawk  warriors  were  approaching  the  island.  Pis- 
caret immediately  placed  his  men  in  ambush  at  a  point 
that  their  enemies  were  approaching.  The  canoes 
were  some  distance  apart  and  as  the  foremost  drew 
near,  each  of  the  Algonquins  chose  his  mark  and 
fired  simultaneously,  with  such  effect  that  six  of  the 
seven  warriors  were  killed,  but  the  seventh  jumped 
overboard  and  swam  to  the  other  canoe,  where  he  was 
taken  in.  Enraged  at  their  loss  but  in  nowise  dis- 
mayed, the  Mohawks,  instead  of  striving  to  escape, 


In  Cooper's  Cave,  Glens  Falls,  N.  Y, 


Story  of  Piscaret  99 

paddled  hastily  for  the  shore  of  the  island  in  order 
to  land,  give  battle,  and  avenge  the  death  of  their 
comrades.     The  remaining  canoe  now  contained  eight 
Mohawks    eager    for   close    contest    with    the    hated 
Algonquins.    Piscaret  and  his  band,  divining  the  ob- 
ject of  their  foes,  ran  through  the  woods  and  reached 
the  point  of  landing  before  the  enraged  occupants  of 
the  canoe.     A  INIohawk  rising  to  fire,  Piscaret  shot 
him,  and  in  falling  he  overturned  the  frail  canoe. 
The  water  being  shallow,  the  warriors  regained  foot- 
hold, waded  to  the  shore,  and  made  a  desperate  fight, 
but  the  Algonquins,  having  advantage  of  position  and 
firearms  against  rude  weapons  and  muskets  useless 
from  their  submergence  in  the  lake,  killed  all  but 
three  of  their  enemies  and  captured  two  of  the  sur-~ 
vivors.     Recovering  the  bodies  of  the  slain,  who  had 
fallen  into  the  lake,  they  scalped  them  and  set  out 
in  triumi)h  on  their  return,  elated  almost  to  a  point 
of  insanity  at  the  wonderful  and  unexpected  victory 
over  fourteen  of  the  redoubtable  JNIohawks.     One  of 
the  captives,  still  defiant  and  abusive,  received  a  blow 
to  silence  him,  but  otherwise  they  were  well  treated. 
As  the  successful  warriors  approached  Sillery,  a  mis- 
sion above  Quebec,  they  raised  their  song  of  triumph 
and  beat  their  paddles  on  the  edge  of  their  canoes, 
and  at  the  same  time  raised  aloft  the  eleven  scalps 
attached  to  poles.     The  Indians  fired  their  guns  and 
screeched  and  danced  in  jubilation,  and  a  squad  of 
soldiers  from  Quebec  fired  a  salute  of  musketry. 

On  the  next  daj^  Governor  Montmagnj^  came  to 
Sillery,  and  a  grand  council  was  held  at  the  house 


loo  Story  of  Piscaret 

of  the  Jesuits.  The  two  ^lohawks  were  present, 
seated  with  seeming  imperturbability.  When  they  com- 
prehended that  their  hves  were  safe,  one  of  them,  a 
man  of  great  size,  arose  and  addressed  the  Governor: 

"  Onontio,  I  am  saved  from  fire ;  my  body  is  de- 
livered from  death.  Onontio,  you  have  given  me  my 
life.  I  thank  you  for  it.  I  will  never  forget  it.  All 
my  country  will  be  grateful  to  you.  The  earth  will 
be  bright;  the  river  calm  and  smooth;  there  will  be 
peace  and  friendship  between  us.  The  shadow  is  be- 
fore my  eyes  no  longer.  The  spirits  of  my  ancestors, 
slain  by  the  Algonquins,  have  disappeared.  Onontio, 
you  are  good ;  we  are  bad.  But  our  anger  is  gone ;  I 
have  no  heart  but  for  peace  and  rejoicing."  As  he 
said  this,  he  began  dancing,  holding  his  hands  up- 
raised. Suddenly  he  snatched  a  hatchet,  brandished 
it  for  a  moment  like  a  madman,  and  then  flung  it 
into  the  fire,  saying,  as  he  did  so,  "  Thus  I  throw 
down  my  anger!  thus  I  cast  away  the  weapons  of 
blood!  Farewell  war!  Now  I  am  your  friend 
forever! " 

The  Indians  in  addressing  or  speaking  of  the  gov- 
ernors of  Canada  always  called  them  "  Onontio,"  as 
in  after  years  the  governors  of  New  Netherlands  were 
called  "  Brother  Corlear,"  after  Arent  Van  Corlear, 
who  was  drowned  in  Lake  Champlain  in  1667.  It 
was  an  established  custom  among  the  Indians,  when 
a  prominent  man  of  their  tribe  died  or  was  killed  in 
war,  to  resurrect  him  with  ceremony,  by  bestowing 
his  name  upon  some  worthy  member  of  his  tribe,  who 
henceforth  lost  his  former  identity,  and  became  the 


Story  of  Piscaret  loi 

head  of  the  family  of  the  deceased.  To  show  their 
veneration  to  their  very  good  friend,  Van  Corlear, 
they  honored  him  by  bestowing  his  name  on  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  colony,  thereby  "  raising  him  up,"  as  the 
ceremony  was  called/ 

The  decade  between  1640  and  1650  was  marked  by 
great  activity  among  the  Iroquois,  particularly  among 
the  Mohawks,  and  their  audacity  and  cruelties  to 
prisoners  kept  the  Hurons  and  Algonquins  close  to 
their  woodland  homes,  or  under  the  protection  of  the 
French  at  Quebec  and  the  other  missions  on  the  St. 
Lawrence. 

1  It  may  be  of  interest  to  our  readers  to  know  that  the  remnant 
of  the  Mohawk  tribe  now  settled  at  Brantford  and  Deseronto  in 
the  Province  of  Ontario,  still  call  the  Governor  of  Canada,  "  Kora," 
evidently  a  corruption  of  "  Corlear." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE     GREAT     IROQUOIS     COUNCIL    AT     FORT     JOHNSON, 

JUNE,    1755 SE^^N    years'    war BATTLE 

OF   LAKE   GEORGE 

I  HAVE  been  very  much  interested  in  reading  the 
proceedings,  speeches,  etc.,  attending  the  council 
of  the  Six  Nations,  and  their  allies,  with  Colonel 
William  Johnson  at  Fort  Johnson  (then  called 
Mount  Johnson)  from  June  21  to  July  4,  1755, 
when  over  eleven  hundred  Indians,  men,  women,  and 
children,  gathered  around  the  old  gray  mansion  in 
a  council  of  war. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  French  with  their  usual 
ingenious  subtlety  had  created  a  great  unrest  among 
the  Iroquois,  by  assuring  them  that  the  English  and 
the  French  were  about  to  combine  and  destroy  the 
Iroquois  and  take  their  lands.  Rumors  were  in  cir- 
culation from  time  to  time  that  measures  for  exter- 
mination were  already  in  progress.  In  fact,  at  one 
time  the  IMohawks  of  the  lower  castle  at  Fort  Hunter 
were  stampeded  and  fled  to  the  upper  castle  at 
Danube,  by  a  rumor  that  several  hundred  Albanians 
were  marching  against  them.  The  discontent  among 
the  Mohawks  was  so  universal  that  Hendrick  and 
other   leaders    were    affected    by    it.     Col.    William 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson        103 

Johnson  writes  in  1750  that  Hendrick  was  insolent 
to  him  and  would  not  shake  hands  with  him,  because 
of  the  rumor  that  Governor  Clinton  and  Johnson 
were  in  league  with  the  French  to  kill  all  of  the  In- 
dians and  take  their  land.  Johnson  was  soon  able 
to  convince  Hendrick  of  the  fallacy  of  the  report, 
and  through  him  the  JMohawks,  and  the  alarm 
subsided. 

The  fact  that  Johnson  had  resigned  from  the  office 
of  Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs  in  1753  com- 
plicated matters  and  the  Six  Nations,  as  soon  as  they 
comprehended  the  fact,  clamored  for  his  reinstate- 
ment. As  soon  as  the  matter  was  brought  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  London,  General 
Braddock,  on  his  arrival  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  at 
the  command  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  reappointed 
Johnson  Superintendent  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  their 
allies  and  dependents. 

The  effect  was  immediate,  confidence  was  restored 
among  the  Iroquois,  the  council  fire  was  removed  from 
Albany  to  Mount  Johnson,  and  Johnson  was  over- 
whelmed by  the  sachems  of  the  Six  Nations  with 
congratulations  and  assurances  of  fealty. 

At  this  time  word  had  been  received  that  the  French 
had  started  an  expedition  for  Crown  Point,  with  the 
ultimate  intention  of  marching  on  Albany.  It  was 
for  the  purpose  of  defeating  this  project  of  the 
French  that  Johnson  issued  his  orders  for  the  gather- 
ing of  the  clans  at  ]Mount  Johnson. 

Johnson  may  well  have  been  gratified  with  the 
large  number  that  responded  to  his  call,  although  it 


I04        Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson 

taxed  his  larder  to  the  utmost  to  entertain  and  feed 
the  vast  numbers  that  came.  Imagine,  if  you  can, 
a  private  gentleman  fifteen  miles  from  any  source 
of  supplies,  with  no  means  of  transportation  except 
the  canoe  or  the  pack  on  a  runner's  back,  entertain- 
ing for  two  weeks  a  horde  of  twelve  hundred  of  the 
denizens  of  the  forest. 

This  council  was  called  after  Johnson  returned 
from  a  conference  at  Alexandria,  Virginia,  April  14, 
1755,  at  which  time  General  Braddock,  lately  arrived 
from  England,  Governors  Delancey  of  New  York, 
Dinwiddie  of  Virginia,  Shirley  of  Massachusetts, 
Morris  of  Pennsylvania,  Sharpe  of  Maryland,  and 
others,  together  with  Colonel  William  Johnson,  met 
for  a  council  of  war.  From  this  conference,  Johnson 
returned  as  Superintendent  of  the  Five  Nations,  and 
with  the  military  title  of  Major-General. 

Arrangements  were  made  at  that  time  for  mili- 
tary aggression  against  Acadia,  Fort  Duquesne, 
Niagara,  and  Crown  Point.  The  reduction  of  Crown 
Point,  with  the  assistance  of  the  Iroquois  and  pro- 
vincial soldiers,  was  the  part  of  the  programme  appor- 
tioned to  Major-General  Johnson,  and  it  was  for 
the  purpose  of  enlisting  the  Six  Nations  in  the  expe- 
dition that  the  council  at  Fort  Johnson  had  been 
called.  The  council  assembled  at  Mount  John- 
son on  Saturday,  June  21,  1755.  Nine  tribes  were 
present : 

Senecas  Cayugas 

Oneidas  Onondagas 

Tiederigrones  Schanandarighones 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson       105 

Ogquagas  Delawares 

Mohawks 

There  were  present: 
The  Hon.  William  Johnson. 
Rev.  Mr.  Ogilvie,  JNIissionary  at  Fort  Hunter. 
Peter  Wraxall,  Sec'y  for  Indian  Affairs. 
Daniel  Claus,  Arent  Stevens,  William  Printup  and 

Jacobus  Clement,  Interpreters. 
Mr.   Ferrall,   Capt.    Stoddert,    Capt.   John   Butler, 
and  others. 

The  wide  flat  extending  to  the  river  from  the  resi- 
dence of  Sir  William  Johnson  was  the  scene  of  this 
gathering.  To  the  east  was  the  Kayaderosseros 
Creek,  while  to  the  west  was  a  slight  acclivity, 
sparsely  covered  with  large  oaks,  pines,  and  hemlocks. 

Rude  w^ooden  benches  had  been  provided  on  each 
side  of  a  table  near  the  building,  at  which  sat  John- 
son, his  secretary,  Wraxall,  the  interpreters,  and 
other  white  men  of  prominence.  The  benches  were 
occuj^ied  by  the  sachems  and  chiefs  of  the  Iroquois 
and  their  allies,  while  in  front,  in  semicircles  extend- 
ing back  and  to  the  east  and  to  the  west,  row  upon 
row,  squatted  the  warriors  and  young  braves,  in  the 
order  of  seniority.  Back  of  these,  and  gathered  on 
the  hill  slope,  were  the  squaws  and  children.  Here 
and  there  on  the  flat  lands  and  on  the  hills,  the  curl- 
ing smoke  indicated  temporary  camps  of  the  families 
who  had  followed  the  great  men  of  the  council. 

Inside  of  the  mansion,  and  gazing  from  the  win- 
dows on  this  strange  scene,  were  the  two  daughters 
of   Sir   William,   IMaiy   and   ^^ancy.     JNIolly   Brant 


io6       Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson 

had  just  been  installed,  and,  with  the  half-breed 
daughters  of  Caroline  Hendrick,  Charlotte  and  Caro- 
line, and  William  of  Canajoharie,  together  with  her 
brother,  Joseph  Brant,  formed  a  group  at  the  en- 
trance that  was  restless  and  interested.  The  locust 
grove  had  not  yet  been  planted,  and  the  multitude 
sat  in  stoic  silence,  in  the  blazing  glare  of  the  mid- 
summer sun. 

On  the  outskirts  was  some  evidence  of  a  little 
hilarious  disorder,  but  the  participants  in  it  soon  sub- 
sided under  the  stern  gaze  of  the  sachems. 

At  this  conference  Sir  William  delivered  his  first 
public  speech  as  Superintendent  of  the  Indians.  It 
was  translated,  and  written  in  the  Indian  language 
by  Daniel  Claus,  afterwards  a  son-in-law  to  Sir 
William.  He  is  said  to  have  been  a  German  gentle- 
man of  education,  who  had  lived  some  time  among 
the  Indians  of  the  upper  castle,  in  order  to  learn 
their  language.  The  speech  was  delivered  by  the 
Onondaga  Sachem  Red  Head,  Mr.  Claus  reading 
it  to  him  in  a  low  voice,  paragraph  by  paragraph. 
Colonel  Johnson,  however,  had  first  read  the  speech 
in  English,  to  the  assembled  multitude. 

The  speech  contained  all  of  the  imagery  of  an  In- 
dian orator,  each  salient  paragraph  ending  with  the 
gift  of  a  string  or  belt  of  wampum. 

A  string  was  given  to  wipe  away  their  tears  and 
to  clear  their  throats.  He  told  them  of  his  meeting 
with  the  Governors,  and  his  appointment  as  sole 
Superintendent  of  Indian  Affairs,  and  of  the  re- 
moval of  the  council  fire  from  Albany  to  Fort  John- 


>.«^ 


/-Ts 


I'.alllc   -Moiniiiicii  I,   Lake   (icdi-^c.     ('hid'   liciHlric 
Sir  ^^'illialll  .!u!iiisnii. 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson        107 

son.  He  urged  unity  among  them.  "  Brothers 
joined  together  with  love  and  confidence  are  like  a 
great  bundle  of  sticks  which  cannot  be  broken  whilst 
the  parts  are  bound  together,  but  when  separated 
from  each  other,  a  child  may  break  them."  Here  a 
bundle  of  sticks  bound  together,  like  the  fasces  of 
a  Roman  lictor,  was  delivered  to  the  speaker,  W'ho 
exemplified  the  metaphor  and  gave  the  bundle  to  a 
sachem  on  the  front  bench,  upon  which  a  universal 
shout  of  applause  arose  from  the  multitude.  "  So 
will  it  be  with  you,  if  you  keep  in  union  and  love 
with  one  another."  After  sitting  in  silence  for  a 
number  of  minutes,  at  a  motion  from  Hendrick,  the 
great  sachem  of  the  Mohawks,  the  council  silently 
dissolved. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  no  meeting  was 
held,  but  on  INIonday  the  sachems  announced  that 
they  were  ready  to  answer  Sir  William's  address. 
The  same  sachem  who  translated  Sir  William's 
speech  had  been  chosen  to  answer  it.  His  name,  al- 
most unpronounceable,  was  Kaghs-wugh-tio-ni,  an 
Onondaga,  whose  English  name  was  Red  Head. 
Hendrick  had  been  nominated  for  speaker  but  had 
declined  in  favor  of  Red  Head.  His  speech  was 
diplomatic  in  the  extreme.  He  returned  condolence 
for  condolence,  compliment  for  compliment.  He  ex- 
pressed gratification  that  the  council  fire  had  been 
removed  from  Albany  to  Fort  Johnson;  he  agreed 
with  Sir  William  that  in  union  there  was  strength, 
as  exemplified  by  the  bundle  of  sticks;  he  was  over- 
joyed  to   know   that    Sir   William   had   been   made 


io8       Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson 

Superintendent  and  expressed  the  utmost  confidence 
in  his  friendship  and  his  love  of  the  Six  Nations,  but 
not  a  word  was  said  about  their  union  with  the  whites 
in  the  coming  conflict  with  the  French,  and  with  the 
skill  of  a  trained  diplomat  he  said:  "  If  we  are  de- 
ficient in  any  matter  of  form,  or  should  forget  to 
answer  any  part  of  your  speech,  you  will  excuse  us. 
We  only  depend  upon  our  memories,  and  cannot  have 
recourse,  as  you  may,  to  any  written  records." 

On  the  24th,  Sir  William  delivered  another  long 
speech,  reciting  to  the  Indians  incidents  of  the 
treachery  of  the  French,  and  the  firm  friendship  and 
honest  dealing  of  the  English,  and  the  mutual  de- 
pendence of  the  English  and  of  the  Iroquois  on  each 
other,  and  urged  the  Six  Nations  to  stand  by  the 
colonists  as  in  the  past.  He  pictured  the  disastrous 
effect  upon  the  several  cantons,  if  their  enemies  in 
New  France  should  defeat  the  English;  and  said: 
"  ^ly  kettle  is  on  the  fire,  my  canoe  is  ready  to  put  in 
the  water,  my  gun  is  loaded,  my  sword  by  my  side 
and  my  axe  sharpened.  I  desire  and  expect  you  will 
now  take  up  the  hatchet  and  join  us,  your  brethren, 
against  all  our  enemies." 

When  the  speech  was  ended,  he  desired  they  should 
appoint  a  deputation  of  each  nation,  to  go  upstairs 
with  him  where  the  speech  would  be  again  read  over 
to  them. 

On  the  25th  a  speech  from  General  Braddock  was 
read,  and  with  great  enthusiasm  Sir  William  threw 
down  the  war-belt  in  General  Braddock's  name,  which 
was  at  once  taken  up  by  an  Oneida  sachem.     There- 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson        109 

upon  Arent  Stevens,  the  interpreter,  whose  mother 
was  a  half-breed,  began  the  war-dance  for  General 
Braddock,  and  then  a  war-dance  for  General  John- 
son, to  both  of  which  dances  all  the  sachems  bore 
the  usual  chorus. 

At  the  end  of  the  assembly,  Johnson  ordered  a 
large  tub  of  punch  set  out  for  the  sachems  so  that 
they  might  drink  the  health  of  the  King. 

On  the  26th,  Ottrowana,  a  great  sachem  and  war- 
rior of  the  Cayuga  nation,  arrived  with  nineteen 
additional  warriors.  With  him  came  Nockie,  a  great 
sachem  of  the  Missisagauaes  (Ojibwas).  On  the 
28th,  Nockie,  the  Missisagauae,  paid  his  respects  to 
Sir  William.  Nockie  also  said  that  he  w^ould  like 
to  talk  with  him  in  private,  at  a  future  time. 

A  meeting  was  held  on  June  28th,  but  one  of  the 
sachems  reported  that  some  of  the  leading  sachems 
of  the  other  nations,  who  were  expected  to  have  met 
with  them  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  some  conclusion, 
had  become  so  drunk  that  they  could  not  attend.  Sir 
William  desired  to  know  where  they  got  their  rum. 
They  replied  that  none  had  been  sold  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Johnson,  but  it  had  been  secured  at  Albany 
and  Schenectady.  Five  or  six  kegs  of  rum  had  been 
discovered,  which  Sir  William  had  ordered  away  and 
locked  up,  but  great  quantities  were  daily  disposed 
of  among  the  Indians,  and  sold  to  them  at  Albany 
and  Schenectady. 

June  29th  another  council  was  held,  at  which  the 
Onondaga  sachem  Red  Head  was  the  speaker  for  the 
Six  Nations.     He  replied  to  Sir  William's  address 


no        Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson 

by  answering  each  paragraph,  each  sahent  point, 
giving  belt  for  belt. 

After  a  whole  week  spent  in  conference  he  an- 
nounced that  the  Iroquois  and  their  allies  would  follow 
wherever  Johnson  led,  and  in  illustrating  the  bond 
of  union  between  the  Indians  and  the  English  the 
bundle  of  sticks  was  again  brought  forward  and  the 
metaphor  exemplified.  At  this  satisfactory  ending 
of  the  council,  shouts,  more  piercing  than  musical, 
filled  the  air.  Johnson  was  happy,  and  the  sachems 
and  warriors  were  well  pleased. 

In  the  evening  the  war-kettle  was  put  on  the  fire, 
and  at  night  the  war-dance  w^as  celebrated.  Sir  Wil- 
liam began  it,  followed  by  Red  Head  and  the  Oneida 
sachem,  speaker  of  the  day,  and  many  of  the  head 
w'arriors.  It  was  a  scene  of  savage  revel  lasting  far 
into  the  night. 

When  we  read  the  speeches  made  at  this  confer- 
ence, and  notice  the  subtle  diplomacy  governing  all 
their  utterances  and  the  poetic  imagery  of  many 
of  the  sentences,  we  cannot  call  the  Mohawks 
and  their  allies  savages,  nor  even  barbarians:  they 
might  rather  be  called  by  the  name  the  Delawares 
appropriated  to  themselves  —  Leni  Lenape  —  real 
men. 

On  July  5th  the  council  dissolved  and  the  Indians 
returned  to  their  homes  with  new  guns,  or  old  ones 
mended  by  the  smith,  gun-powder  and  ball,  corn, 
strouds  and  blankets,  presents  provided  by  the  Eng- 
lish Government  through  Sir  William,  warriors  and 
sachems  promising  to  follow  Sir  William  to  battle 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson        m 

whenever  he  called  them  down  from  their  forest 
homes. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  the  fact  that  the  Caughna- 
wagas  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  a  majority  of  whom  were 
Iroquois  who  had  succumbed  to  the  blandishments  of 
the  Jesuits,  had  joined  the  mission  at  Caughnawaga 
and  become  Roman  Catholics,  was  a  disturbing  ele- 
ment that  prolonged  the  council  for  fourteen  daj^s. 

It  was  well  understood  by  members  of  the  council 
that  the  Caughnawagas  were  loyal  to  the  French,  and 
would  form  part  of  the  French  forces  in  the  coming 
conflict  at  Lake  George  or  Lake  Champlain.  Their 
name  was  frequently  mentioned  by  Sir  William,  and 
an  attempt  was  made  to  dissuade  them  from  enter- 
ing into  the  conflict,  where  kinsmen  would  be  found 
fighting  against  kinsmen,  brothers  against  brothers. 
But  all  attempts  failed,  and  Hendrick  undoubtedly 
fell  pierced  by  a  bullet  sped  by  a  renegade  Iroquois. 

Efforts  were  made  at  the  council  to  induce  the 
Caughnawagas  to  refrain  from  entering  into  the  con- 
test, and  delegates  from  the  English,  and  from  the 
Onondaga  and  other  nations  were  sent  to  them,  but 
the  overtures  were  of  no  avail.  At  last,  on  July  8th, 
Sir  William  said:  "  The  Caughnawagas  are  at  pres- 
ent looked  upon  and  treated  by  the  English  as  our 
brethren;  they  come  now  freely  and  unmolested  to 
Albany,  and  the  soldiers  have  orders  to  treat  them 
civilly,  and  as  friends.  We  have  no  desire  to  spill 
a  drop  of  their  blood.  I  do  propose  to  send  a  mes- 
sage to  them  to  return  to  their  friends,  and  if  they 
will  not,  to  stand  out  of  the  way  and  not  join  the 


112        Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson 

French  against  us.  But  if  they  will  be  obstinate 
and  act  as  enemies  against  us,  you  cannot  blame  us 
if  we  treat  them  as  their  headstrong  rashness  will 
deserve.  And  as  I  would  do  by  my  own  son,  so 
will  I  do  by  them.  Do  you  ask  or  expect  more,  and 
can  I  speak  more  reasonably  or  fairly?  I  give  you 
this  belt,  and  I  mean  what  I  say." 

N.  B.  In  Sir  William's  speech  of  the  24th,  he 
speaks  of  going  upstairs^  and  toward  the  end  of  the 
council  he  also  speaks  of  going  upstairs  to  consult 
with  some  of  the  sachems. 

Query — Is  it  not  safe  to  assume  that  Sir  Wil- 
liam's room,  his  office,  was  the  panelled  west  room  in 
the  second  story  of  Old  Fort  Johnson? 

After  the  destruction  of  the  Mohawk  castles  by 
De  Tracy  in  1666,  the  Mohawks,  being  overawed  by 
the  display  of  the  power  of  the  French  of  Canada, 
ceased  their  attacks  on  the  French  for  two  decades, 
although  frequent  raids  were  made  on  their  Indian 
allies. 

Somewhat  later  they  did  not  confine  their  attacks 
to  the  Indians  alone,  but  frequently  and  incidentally 
included  the  French  settlements  in  their  attacks, 
thereby  terrorizing  New  France,  which  at  that  time 
was  on  the  verge  of  a  famine  on  account  of  the  fear 
of  the  agriculturists  to  cultivate  their  fields. 

I^ater,  the  Seven  Years'  War  in  Europe  was  in- 
augurated ;  the  strife  that  involved  the  whole  civilized 
world  began  on  this  continent,  and  the  Champlain 


Iroquois  Council  at  Fort  Johnson        113 

Valley  became  a  battle-ground  of  the  giants  of 
Europe.  Parkman  quotes  from  Voltaire:  "  Such 
was  the  complication  of  political  interests,  that  a 
cannon-shot  fired  in  America  gave  the  signal  that 
set  Europe  in  a  blaze."  Parkman  says:  "It  was 
not  a  cannon-shot,  but  a  volley  from  the  hunting 
pieces  of  a  few  backwoodsmen,  commanded  by  a 
Virginian  youth,  George  Washington,  at  Great 
Meadows,  Pennsylvania,  May  28,  1754";  leading  up 
to  the  massacre  of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  the  victory 
of  General  Johnson  at  Lake  George,  and  finally 
and  forever  putting  an  end  to  French  rule  in  North 
America. 

At  this  period,  the  total  population  of  the  French 
colonies  in  America,  including  Canada  and  Louisi- 
ana, did  not  number  eighty  thousand  souls,  while  the 
population  of  the  English  colonies  amounted  to  one 
million  three  hundred  thousand  souls. 

Hitherto  the  jealousy  between  the  English  colonies 
prevented  co-operation,  and  any  attack  of  the  French 
and  their  Indian  allies  was  a  source  of  constant  terror 
to  the  border  settlements. 

France  had  about  two  thousand  eight  hundred 
regular  troops  and  four  thousand  well-trained  Cana- 
dian militia.  However,  in  the  battle  of  Lake  George, 
1755,  the  troops  were  nearly  all  provincial  soldiers 
and  Indians.  . 

The  campaigns  of  1757-58-59  were  fought,  in  a 
large  measure,  by  British  regulars,  although  the  few 
provincials  that  helped  swell  the  ranks  of  the  British 
did  yeoman's  service  in  the  three  campaigns. 


114  Governor  Shirley 

On  September  3,  1755,  Major-General  Johnson 
wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  from  Lake  George, 
that  two  hundred  and  fifty  Iroquois  had  arrived,  and 
he  expected  that  he  would  have  three  hundred  In- 
dians before  he  would  be  able  to  leave  that  place  for 
Crown  Point.  An  unfortunate  enmity  existed,  at 
this  time,  between  Johnson  and  Governor  Shirley. 

Judging  from  the  speech  made  by  Hendrick  at 
Lake  George,  September  4,  1755,  General  Johnson 
had  good  reasons  for  hating  and  distrusting  the  man. 

Hendrick  spoke  as  follows,  addressing  Johnson: 
"  Brother  : 

"  Some  time  ago  we  of  the  Mohawk  castles  were 
greatly  alarmed  and  much  concerned,  and  we  take 
this  opportunity  of  speaking  our  minds,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  many  gentlemen,  concerning  Bro.  Gov.  Shir- 
ley who  has  gone  to  Oswego, — he  told  us  that  though 
we  thought  that  you,  our  brother,  had  the  sole  man- 
agement of  Indian  affairs,  yet  he  was  over  all;  that 
he  could  pull  down,  and  set  up.  He  told  us  '  that 
he  had  always  been  this  great  man,  and  that  you,  our 
brother,  was  but  an  upstart  of  yesterday.'  These 
kind  of  discourses  from  him  caused  great  uneasiness 
and  confusion  amongst  us,  and  he  confirmed  these 
things  by  a  large  belt  of  wampum. 

"  Brother,  he  further  told  us  when  he  came  to  our 
fort :  '  This  is  my  fort,  it  was  built  by  my  order  and 
direction,  I  am  Ruler  and  Master  here,  and  now 
Brethren,  I  desire  twenty  of  your  young  warriors 
from  this  castle  to  join  me  as  your  brother  Wariahe- 
jage  promised  me  you  would  do,  and  be  ready  at  a 


Governor  Shirley  115 

whistle.  Brethren  you  may  see  I  have  the  chief  com- 
mand, here  is  money  for  you,  my  pockets  are  full, 
you  shan't  want,  besides  I  have  goods  and  arms  ready 
for  all  that  will  go  with  me.'  He  said  a  great  deal 
more  of  the  Hke  kind,  which  time  will  not  permit  us 
to  repeat  at  present. 

"  He  was  two  days  pressing  and  working  upon  my 
brother  Abraham,  to  go  with  him  as  minister  for  the 
Indians — he  said  to  him,  '  Wariahejage  gives  you  no 
wages,  why  should  you  go  to  Crown  Point?  you  will 
do  nothing  there  but  crack  lice,  with  me  there  will  be 
something  worth  doing.' 

"  But  Brother,  notwithstanding  all  these  tempta- 
tions and  speeches,  we  that  are  come  and  now  here, 
were  determined  to  remain  steadfast  to  you,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  Governor  Shirley's  money  and 
speeches,  you  would  have  seen  all  the  Six  Nations 
here." 

With  such  "  an  enemy  in  camp  "  it  is  a  wonder 
that  Johnson  won  the  victory  at  Lake  George  at  all. 

At  the  conference,  at  Alexandria,  spoken  of  at  the 
Grand  Council  of  the  Iroquois  at  Fort  Johnson, 
Governor  Shirley  proposed  the  following  campaign: 
first,  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne  (now  Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania)  to  be  commanded  by  the  un- 
fortunate General  Braddock;  the  capture  of  Fort 
Niagara,  commanded  by  Governor  Shirley;  and  the 
expedition  to  Crown  Point  under  command  of  Sir 
William  Johnson.  The  disastrous  result  of  the  ex- 
pedition of  General  Braddock  and  the  abortive  at- 
tempt of  Governor  Shirley,  who  did  not  get  beyond 


ii6  Governor  Shirley 

Oswego,  are  well-known  incidents  of  the  campaign 
of  1755. 

The  news  of  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  and  the  at- 
tempt of  Shirley  to  induce  the  Senecas  to  accompany 
him  to  Oswego,  resulted  in  the  Senecas  remaining  at 
home,  and  instead  of  six  hundred  of  this  tribe  follow- 
ing Johnson,  only  twenty-five  or  thirty  accompanied 
Captain  Montour,  and  instead  of  the  one  thousand 
Iroquois  that  Johnson  expected,  there  were  about 
five  hundred. 

However,  on  August  8th  General  Johnson  himself 
set  out  from  Albany,  with  the  stores,  baggage-train, 
bateaux,  artillery,  and  troops.  It  is  said  that  the  com- 
mand consisted  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  provin- 
cial troops  from  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and 
Connecticut,  one  thousand  from  New  York,  and  the 
Iroquois,  in  all  about  four  thousand  five  hundred 
men.  With  them  went  Chief  Hendrick,  and  Joseph 
Brant,  then  a  mere  boy  of  thirteen,  carrying  a  light 
gun  given  him  by  General  Johnson,  and  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Mohawks. 

August  14th  he  arrived  at  Fort  Edward.  The 
news  of  Braddock's  defeat  had  reached  them,  but 
the  New  York  and  New  England  troops  were  not 
disheartened,  and  were  full  of  ardor  and  impatient 
of  delay. 

Colonel  Lyman  was  equally  restive  under  delay. 
Indeed  a  day  or  two  before  General  Johnson  arrived 
at  Fort  Edward,  Lyman  had  set  three  hundred  of 
his  men  to  work  to  cut  a  road  across  the  hills  to 
Fort  Ann,  supposing  that  the  army  would  proceed 


Expedition  to  Crown  Point  117 

against  Crown  Point  by  the  way  of  Wood  Creek, 
and  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain.  General  Johnson, 
on  his  arrival,  called  a  council  of  war  to  decide  upon 
the  best  route.  This  council  chose  the  Lake  George 
route. 

About  seven  years  before.  General  Johnson  had 
made  a  road  from  the  head  of  Lake  George  to  Fort 
Edward  or  Glens  Falls,  but  this  road  had  been  neg- 
lected and  it  had  to  be  cleared  out,  so  two  thousand 
men  were  sent  forward  to  restore  this  road  and  to 
erect,  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  a  fort  and  suitable 
buildings  to  store  arms  and  munitions  of  war -as  they 
should  arrive. 

Leaving  Colonel  Lyman  to  await  the  rest  of  the 
troops,  on  the  26th  of  August  Johnson  pushed  for- 
ward to  the  head  of  the  lake,  a  distance  of  fifteen 
miles,  with  three  thousand  four  hundred  men,  reach- 
ing it  at  dusk,  August  28th.  The  next  morning,  he 
selected  a  position  for  his  camp  on  a  bluff  shore  of 
the  lake,  flanked  at  both  ends  by  a  thickly  wooded 
swamp  with  small  creeks  entering  therein.  On  this 
day,  August  29,  1755,  Johnson  changed  the  name  of 
the  lake  from  St.  Sacrament  to  Lake  George,  in 
honor  of  King  George  II.  At  this  period  Lake 
George  was  in  all  its  pristine  loveliness,  the  virgin 
forests  extending  to  the  shores  of  the  lake  on  every 
side.  It  was  only  approachable  by  the  trails  of  the 
Amerinds  and  was  disturbed  only  by  war  and  hunt- 
ing parties,  on  their  way  to  or  from  the  St.  Lawrence. 
The  troops  immediate!}^  set  about  clearing  a  place 
for    a    camp    capable    of    sheltering    five    thousand 


ii8  Advance  to  Lake  George 

men  and  of  housing  a  proportionate  quantity  of 
stores. 

Meanwhile,  Colonel  Lyman  left  at  Fort  Edward  a 
garrison  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  Connecticut  pro- 
vincials and  five  companies  of  the  New  York  regi- 
ment, and  with  the  balance  of  the  dilatory  troops, 
who  had  arrived,  joined  the  camp  at  Lake  George 
September  3d,  bringing  with  him  all  the  heavy 
artillery. 

While  Johnson  lay  at  Lake  George,  Dieskau  pre- 
pared a  surprise  for  him,  and  concluded  not  to  wait 
to  be  attacked,  but  moved  nearly  his  whole  force  to 
Carillon  or  Fort  Ticonderoga,  which  commanded 
both  routes  by  which  Johnson  could  advance,  that  of 
Wood  Creek  and  that  by  the  way  of  Lake  George. 
Hearing  from  a  prisoner,  who  was  deceiving  them, 
that  the  English  had  fallen  back  and  that  there  were 
only  five  hundred  men  at  Fort  Lyman,  Dieskau  re- 
solved by  a  rapid  movement  to  seize  the  place.  At 
noon  the  same  day,  leaving  part  of  his  force  at  Ticon- 
deroga, he  embarked  the  rest  in  canoes  and  advanced 
along  the  narrow  prolongation  of  Lake  Champlain, 
which  stretched  southward  through  the  wilderness,  to 
where  the  village  of  Whitehall  now  stands,  until  he 
came  to  a  point  w^here  the  lake  dwindled  to  a  mere 
canal,  while  two  mighty  rocks,  capped  with  stunted 
forests,  faced  each  other  from  the  opposing  banks. 
As  they  neared  the  site  of  Whitehall,  they  turned 
to  the  right  and  entered  a  lonely  lake  called  South 
Bay,  w^here  they  left  their  canoes  and  began  their 
march  through  the  forests  toward  Fort  Lyman  (now 


Advance  to  Lake  George  119 

Fort  Edward).  Having  captured  some  mutinous 
drivers,  who  had  left  the  EngHsh  camp  without  orders, 
they  learned  that  a  large  force  lay  encamped  at  the 
lake.  The  Indians  having  refused  to  attack  the  fort, 
Dieskau  resolved  to  attack  the  camp  at  Lake  George. 
Advancing  through  the  gorge  they  were  follow- 
ing, they  passed  around  the  south  end  of  French 
Mountain.  When  within  three  miles  of  the  head  of 
the  lake,  a  prisoner  was  brought  in  who  told  him 
that  a  column  of  English  troops  was  approaching. 
Dieskau's  preparations  were  quickly  made.  The 
Canadians  and  Indians  moved  to  the  front  and  hid 
themselves  in  the  forests  along  the  slopes  of  West 
JMountain  and  the  thickets  on  the  other  side.  Behind 
every  bush  or  tree  crouched  a  Canadian  or  an  In- 
dian, with  gun  cocked  and  with  ears  intent,  listening 
for  the  tramp  of  the  approaching  column. 

Some  of  the  drivers  who  had  escaped  capture 
returned  to  Johnson's  camp  about  midnight  and  re- 
ported a  war  party  on  the  road  to  Fort  Lyman. 
Johnson  called  a  council  at  once,  and  it  was  de- 
termined to  send  out  two  detachments  of  five  hundred 
men  each,  one  toward  Fort  Lyman  and  the  other 
to  South  Bay.  Hendrick,  chief  of  the  Mohawks, 
a  brave  and  sagacious  warrior,  expressed  his  dis- 
sent after  a  fashion  of  his  own.  He  picked  up  a 
stick  and  broke  it;  then  he  picked  up  several  sticks 
and  showed  that  they  together  could  not  be  broken. 
The  hint  was  taken,  and  the  two  detachments  were 
joined  in  one.  Still  Hendrick  shook  his  head.  "  If 
they  are  to  be  killed,"  he  said,  "  they  are  too  many; 


1 20  Ambuscade 

if  they  are  to  fight,  they  are  too  few."  Nevertheless 
he  resolved  to  share  their  fortunes.  He  was  too  old 
and  too  fat  to  go  on  foot,  but  Johnson  lent  him 
a  horse,  which  he  bestrode,  and  was  soon  at  the  head 
of  the  column,  followed  by  two  hundred  Mohawk  war- 
riors. Lieutenant  Colonel  Whiting  soon  came  up 
with  the  balance  of  the  detachment,  and  the  whole 
moved  on  together,  so  little  conscious  of  danger  that 
no  scouts  were  thrown  out  in  front  or  flank,  and  with 
a  sense  of  full  security  they  entered  the  fatal  snare. 
Before  they  were  completely  involved,  however,  the 
sharp  eye  of  old  Hendrick  detected  some  sign  of  an 
enemy. 

At  that  instant  a  gun  was  fired  from  the  bushes, 
the  thickets  blazed  out  a  deadly  fire  and  the  men 
fell  by  scores.  Hendrick's  horse  was  shot  down  and 
the  chief  was  killed  with  a  bayonet  thrust  as  he  tried 
to  rise.  Colonel  Williams  was  also  killed  as  he 
charged  up  the  slopes  on  the  right,  calling  his  men 
to  follow.  The  rear  hurried  forward  to  support  their 
comrades,  when  a  hot  fire  opened  upon  them  from 
the  forest,  and  then  there  was  a  panic.  The  van 
became  the  rear,  and  the  enemy  rushed  upon  it 
shouting  and  screeching. 

After  a  moment  of  total  confusion,  a  part  of  Wil- 
liams's regiment,  under  the  command  of  Whitney, 
rallied  and  covered  the  retreat,  fighting  behind  trees 
like  Indians,  and  firing  and  falling  back  by  turns, 
bravely  aided  by  some  of  the  Mohawks  and  by  a 
detachment  which  Johnson  sent  to  their  aid.  A  very 
handsome  retreat  they  made,  and  so  continued  till 


X     = 


X 


Ambuscade  121 

they  came  within  three  quarters  of  a  mile  of  the  camp. 
So  ended  the  fray  long  known  in  New  England  fire- 
side story,  as  the  "  bloody  morning  scout." 

When  the  rattle  of  musketry  was  heard  at  the 
camp,  gradually  becoming  louder,  it  was  known  that 
their  comrades  were  retreating,  and  hasty  prepara- 
tions were  made  for  defending  the  camp.  A  barri- 
cade was  made  along  the  front,  partly  by  wagons  and 
inverted  bateaux,  but  chiefly  by  trunks  of  trees  hastily 
hewn  down  in  the  forest  and  laid  end  to  end  in  a  row. 

Three  cannons  were  planted  to  sweep  the  road,  and 
another  was  dragged  to  the  ridge  of  the  hill.  Five 
hundred  men  were  detailed  to  guard  the  flanks,  al- 
ready protected  by  swamps,  right  and  left.  The  rest 
stood  behind  the  wagons,  or  lay  flat  behind  the  logs 
and  inverted  bateaux.  Besides  Indians  (about  three 
hundred)  the  force  numbered  between  sixteen  and 
seventeen  hundred  rustics. 

They  were  hardly  at  their  posts,  when  they  saw 
ranks  of  white-coated  soldiers  moving  down  the  road, 
and  the  glint  of  bayonets  that  seemed  innumerable. 
At  the  same  time  a  burst  of  war-whoops  rose  along 
the  front,  and  "  the  Canadians  and  Indians  came  run- 
ning with  undoubted  courage,  right  down  the  hill 
upon  us,  expecting  us  to  flee.  If  Dieskau  had  made 
an  assault  at  that  instant,  there  could  be  but  little 
doubt  of  the  result.  He  had  his  regulars  well  in 
hand,  but  the  rest,  red  and  white,  were  scattered 
through  the  woods  and  swamps,  yelling  and  firing 
behind  trees."  The  regulars,  who  deployed  and  fired 
by  platoons,  were  met  by  a  fire  of  grape  from  the 


122  Battle  of  Lake  George 

artillery,  which  broke  their  ranks  and  scattered  them 
through  the  forest,  seeking  cover. 

The  fire  now  became  general,  during  which  John- 
son received  a  flesh  wound  in  the  thigh,  and  returned 
to  his  tent,  leaving  General  Lyman  in  command  for 
the  rest  of  the  day. 

Baron  Dieskau  was  also  wounded  three  times,  the 
last  time  across  the  hips,  but  seated  behind  a  tree,  he 
denounced  the  Canadians  and  Indians,  and  ordered 
his  adjutant  to  lead  the  regulars  in  a  last  effort 
against  the  English.  But  it  was  too  late.  Johnson's 
men  were  already  crossing  their  row  of  logs,  and  in 
a  few  moments  the  whole  dashed  forward  with  a 
shout,  falling  upon  the  enemy  with  hatchets  and  the 
butts  of  their  guns.  The  French  and  their  allies 
fled. 

It  may  be  apropos  to  introduce  at  this  time  the 
following  letter  from  Baron  de  Dieskau  to  M.  de 
Vaudreuil : 

"  Camp  of  the  English  Army 
"  At  Lake  St.  Sacrament,  Sept.  15,  177.5. 

"  Sir: 

"  I  am  defeated ;  my  detachment  is  routed,  a  number 
of  men  killed  and  thirty  or  forty  are  prisoners,  as 
I  am  told.  I  and  M.  Burnier,  my  Aid  de  Camp, 
are  among  the  latter.  I  have  received  my  share,  four 
gunshot  wounds,  one  of  which  is  mortal.  I  owe  this 
misfortune  to  the  Iroquois.  (Caughnawagas.)  Our 
affair  was  well  begun,  but  as  soon  as  the  Iroquois  per- 
ceived some  Mohawks,  they  came  to  a  dead  halt;  the 


Baron  Dieskau  123 

Abenaquis  and  other  Indians  continued  some  time  but 
disappeared  by  degrees;  this  disheartened  the  Cana- 
dians, and  I  found  myself  with  the  French  troops 
engaged  alone.  I  bore  the  attack,  believing  that  I 
might  rally  the  Canadians  and  perhaps  the  Indians, 
in  which  I  did  not  succeed. 

"  The  Regulars  received  the  whole  of  the  enemy's 
fire  and  were  almost  cut  to  pieces.  I  prophesied  to 
you  Sir  that  the  Iroquois  would  play  some  scurvy 
trick;  it  is  unfortunate  that  I  am  such  a  good  pro- 
phet; I  cannot  too  much  acknowledge  Mr.  de  John- 
son's kindness  and  attention  to  me.  He  is  to  send 
me  to  Orange  to-morrow.  I  know  not  my  fate 
either  as  regards  my  health  or  the  disposition  of  my 
person. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  &c., 

"  Baron  de  Dieskau." 

Some  time  before  the  final  rout  several  hundred 
Canadians  and  Indians  left  the  field  and  returned  to 
the  scene  of  the  morning  ambush  to  plunder  and 
scalp  the  dead.  While  resting  themselves  near  a  pool 
in  the  forest,  they  were  set  upon  by  a  scouting  party 
from  Fort  Lyman,  consisting  chiefly  of  backwoods- 
men, under  command  of  Captains  Folsom  and  Mc- 
Ginnis.  The  assailants  were  greatly  outnumbered, 
but  after  a  hard  fight  the  Canadians  and  Indians 
fled.  The  bodies  of  the  slain  were  thrown  into  the 
pool  which  bears  to  this  day  the  name  of  Bloody 
Pond. 

The  English  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and  missing 


124  Baron  Dieskau 

at  the  battle  of  Lake  George  was  two  hundred  and 
sixty -two,  and  that  of  the  French,  bj^  their  own  ac- 
count, was  two  hundred  and  twenty-eight.  For  this 
victory.  General  Johnson  was  made  baronet,  by  King 
George  IL,  and  Parliament  gave  him  five  thousand 
pounds. 


CHAPTER  IX 

DEFENCE     OF     FORT     WILLIAM     HENRY MASSACRE     OF 

GARRISON GENERAL    SIR    WILLIAM    JOHNSON 

LAKE  GEORGE,  nestling  among  the  foot-hills 
of  the  Adirondacks,  may  well  be  called  historic 
territory,  as  around  its  shores  have  surged  warriors, 
savage  and  civilized,  in  conflict,  for  ages.  The  Mahi- 
cans,  Adirondacks,  INIontagnes,  and  other  Algonquin 
tribes  of  Canada,  the  Hurons,  the  INIohawks,  and 
other  Iroquois  tribes  fought  each  other  along  its 
shores  and  on  its  waters  for  centuries  before  the 
advent  of  the  white  man  upon  this  continent. 

Champlain  knew  of  its  existence  in  1609,  when  he, 
together  with  the  Algonquins,  met  and  defeated  the 
^lohawks  on  the  shores  of  the  lake  that  bears  his 
name. 

The  reader  will  remember  that  almost  at  the  same 
period  that  Champlain  was  sailing  up  the  river  St. 
Lawrence,  thereby  adding  a  vast  territory  to  the  pos- 
sessions of  Henry  the  Fourth,  King  of  France,  Henry 
Hudson,  an  English  navigator  in  the  employ  of  the 
Dutch  East  India  Comi)any,  was  exploring  that 
noble  waterway  which  bears  his  name,  Hudson  River, 
and  claiming,  for  the  Dutch,  lands  extending  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Gradually,  Canada  (or  New  France  as  it  was  then 

125 


126  Fort  William  Henry 

called)  was  peopled  by  the  French,  while  the  Hud- 
son and  its  principal  tributary,  the  Mohawk,  were 
being  settled,  first  by  the  Dutch  and  afterward  by 
the  English,  and  along  the  coast,  villages  and  cities 
were  springing  up,  notwithstanding  the  hostility  of 
some  of  the  savage  tribes,  until,  a  century  and  a  half 
after  the  voyages  of  Champlain  and  Hudson,  the 
English  colonies  numbered  about  a  million  souls, 
w^hile  the  population  of  New  France  is  said  to  have 
been  less  than  one  hundred  thousand.  The  English 
colonies,  however,  extended  along  the  coast  of  the 
Atlantic  from  Newfoundland  to  Florida,  but  did  not 
extend  far  into  the  wilderness. 

The  French  early  made  friends  with  the  northern 
and  western  Indians,  but  the  warlike  Iroquois,  and 
particularly  the  Mohawks,  who  were  made  deadly 
enemies  of  the  French  by  their  defeat  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  1609,  stood  as  a  bulwark  between  the  English 
on  the  one  hand  and  the  French  and  their  Indians 
on  the  other,  and  prevented  the  utter  extinction  of 
the  feeble  settlements  along  the  INIohawk  Valley. 
Whenever  France  and  England  were  at  war,  the 
frontiers  of  the  English  colonies  were  sure  to  be 
cruelly  afflicted  by  incursions  of  the  Indians  living 
in  the  interior,  instigated  and  assisted  by  the  inhabi- 
tants of  New  France.  Although  the  Iroquois  and 
the  colonists  of  New  York  retaliated  and  terrorized 
the  settlers  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  inflicting  terrible 
injuries  on  the  French  and  Indians  alike,  the  want 
of  unity  between  the  Colonists  along  the  coast  pre- 
vented united  action. 


Fort  William  Henry  127 

But  it  is  not  mj^  intention  to  give  the  reader  a 
history  of  the  trials  and  tribulations  of  the  hardy 
colonists  of  America  during  a  century  and  a  half, 
but  to  give  him  an  incident  of  the  campaign  of  1757. 

Although  I  have  shown  the  disparity  of  the  popu- 
lations of  the  two  sections  of  the  country,  and  the 
desire  of  the  colonists  to  drive  the  French  from  the 
western  world,  it  was  not  until  1755,  that  England 
aroused  herself  and  used  strenuous  efforts  to  accom- 
plish that  object.  The  control  of  the  waterway  of 
Lake  Champlain  and  Lake  George  was  coveted  by 
both  parties,  but  the  building  of  the  French  fortresses 
at  Crow^n  Point  and  at  Ticonderoga,  and  the  expedi- 
tion of  Baron  Dieskau  in  1755,  aroused  the  clans  and 
resulted  in  the  victory  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  in 
what  is  known  in  history  as  the  battle  of  Lake 
George. 

Although  Dieskau  was  totally  defeated,  wounded, 
and  taken  prisoner,  Johnson  did  not  follow  up  his 
advantage  as  he  should  have  done,  and  the  French 
forces  retreated  to  Ticonderoga,  which  soon  was 
heavily  entrenched. 

Sir  William,  however,  soon  built  a  fort  at  the  head 
of  Lake  George,  which  was  constructed  in  the  main 
of  earth  embankments,  and  the  necessary  wooden 
quarters  for  troops.  It  was  called  Fort  William 
Henry,  and  garrisoned  by  about  three  thousand 
troops,  under  a  brave  English  officer,  Colonel  ^lunro, 
while  about  fifteen  miles  away,  at  Fort  Edward,  was 
a  garrison  of  four  thousand  English  troops  under 
General  Webb. 


128  Pierre  Roubaud 

In  the  spring  of  1757  General  Montcalm  (who 
was  afterwards  killed  at  the  storming  of  Quebec  by 
the  victorious  English  under  General  Wolfe  in  Sep- 
tember, 1759)  had  advanced  up  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  Richelieu  rivers,  to  Lake  Champlain,  with  an 
army  of  eight  thousand  men,  consisting  of  veteran 
French  soldiers,  Canadians,  and  about  two  thousand 
Indians  of  various  Algonquin  tribes.  Strongly  en- 
trenched at  Crown  Point,  he  made  an  attempt  to 
surprise  Fort  William  Henry,  but  the  vigilance  of 
Colonel  ]Munro  defeated  his  plans  and  he  returned 
to  CrowTi  Point,  leaving  a  small  party  at  Fort 
Ticonderoga. 

All  of  the  accounts  of  the  use  of  Indians  in  con- 
nection with  white  troops  in  warfare  seem  to  indicate 
that  they  were  often  more  of  a  menace  than  support 
to  disciplined  troops,  as  they  would  generally  submit 
to  no  control  except  their  own  unruly  passions. 

A  Jesuit  priest,  Pierre  Roubaud,  has  given  a 
graphic  account  of  the  behavior  of  the  Canadian  sav- 
ages connected  with  this  expedition.  An  appetite 
for  liquor  was  a  favorite  passion,  and  the  universal 
weakness  of  all  the  savage  tribes,  and  there  were  al- 
w^ays  many  traders  who  were  only  too  anxious  to 
furnish  them  fire-water,  in  order  that  they  might 
profit  by  their  inebriation. 

Toward  evening  of  a  day  when  the  French  were 
encamped  at  Crown  Point,  some  of  the  war-chiefs 
had  organized  a  war-dance  or  war-feast,  as  it  was 
sometimes  called.  The  announcement  of  a  war- 
dance  was  sure  to  draw  a  large  crowd,  and  the  as- 


pq 


^ 


Pierre  Roubaud  129 

sembly  at  this  time  was  no  exception  to  the  rule;  for 
line  upon  line  in  circular  rows  surrounded  the  central 
fire  that  was  cooking  the  food  for  the  feasting.  Rou- 
baud says: 

"  The  large  assembly  was  decorated  with  every 
ornament  most  fitted  to  disfigure  the  countenance. 
Vermilion,  white,  green,  yellow,  and  black  made  of 
soot  or  the  scraping  of  pots — on  a  single  savage  face 
was  seen  united  all  these  different  colors,  applied  by 
the  aid  of  a  little  bear's  grease  which  serves  as  an 
unguent.  This  is  applied  not  only  to  the  face,  but 
sometimes  to  the  whole  form,  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  naked  body  appeared  to  be  clothed.  Rings  in 
the  nose  and  ears,  sometimes  of  large  size;  a  shirt 
smeared  with  vermilion,  porcelain  necklaces,  silver 
bracelets,  a  large  knife  in  its  sheath  hanging  over 
the  breast,  and  moccasins  of  elk-skin.  The  captains 
were  distinguished  only  by  a  curiously  wrought  stone 
gorget,  and  the  chiefs  by  a  metal  medallion  portrait 
of  the  king." 

The  painting  of  the  body  and  face  had  a  twofold 
purpose :  in  the  first  place,  the  making  the  face  hide- 
ous for  the  purpose  of  frightening  their  opponents ;  in 
the  second  place,  for  the  purpose  of  disguise.  Fre- 
quently a  war  party  was  composed  of  many  boys  from 
sixteen  to  twenty  years  of  age,  young  bucks,  as  they 
were  called.  With  a  profuse  use  of  paint  on  body 
and  face,  the  enemy  would  frequently  mistake  a 
body  of  boys  so  decorated,  for  seasoned  warriors,  and 
the  moral  effect  was  thus  enhanced.  Just  as  to-day 
some    of    the    most    audacious     crimes     are     often 


130  Pierre  Roubaud 

committed  by  lads,  so  young  Indians  were  often 
responsible  for  the  hideous  crimes  attributed  to  the 
Amerinds.  It  is  on  record  that  a  war  party  of  thirty 
Onondaga  lads,  out  for  their  first  scalps,  repeatedly 
met  parties  of  seasoned  warriors  of  the  brave  An- 
dastes,  and  defeated  them  by  their  fiercely  audacious 
attacks,  taking  many  scalps. 

The  beginning  of  a  war-feast  was  dignified  and 
orderly  in  a  high  degree  but  frequently  ended  in  what 
might  be  called  a  frantic  revel.  After  a  respectful 
silence,  a  most  lugubrious  chant,  begun  by  one  voice, 
was  taken  up  by  a  number  of  chiefs  appointed  for 
that  purpose,  accompanied  by  the  shaking  of  turtle 
rattles  and  the  beating  of  tom-toms.  This  chant,  by 
the  greatest  stretch  of  imagination,  could  not  be  called 
music,  but  resembled  the  cries  and  howling  of  wolves 
or  of  other  wild  animals.  This  was  not  the  begin- 
ning of  the  meeting,  but  only  the  prelude.  Then, 
one  after  another,  different  chiefs  would  arise  and 
recite  their  deeds  of  prowess,  until  some  particular 
captain  would  invite  warriors  to  join  him  on  the  war- 
path. As  different  savages  would  arise  and  join  the 
dancing  circle,  the  excitement  increased  until  the 
space  around  the  fire  would  be  filled  with  a  dancing, 
howling  ring  of  Indians,  gesticulating  and  exhibiting 
the  most  ferocious  passions,  until  at  last  all  had  re- 
tired from  exhaustion,  and  the  distribution  and 
consumption  of  the  feast  began. 

Roubaud  relates  of  the  return  of  a  small  war  party 
with  five  English  prisoners.  Later  at  night  he  came 
upon  a  large  party  of  Indians  squatted  around  a 


Advance  of  Montcalm  131 

fire,  before  which  meat  was  roasting  on  sticks,  which 
he  soon  discovered  was  the  flesh  of  an  English 
prisoner,  while  other  portions  were  being  converted 
into  a  horrid  broth  in  a  kettle  near  by.  Roubaud 
says  that  this  abomination  could  not  be  prevented, 
because,  if  force  had  been  used  to  stop  it,  the 
Ottawas,  in  a  body,  would  have  gone  home  in  a  rage. 

In  due  time  the  French  troops  left  Crown  Point 
and  advanced  to  the  lower  or  northern  end  of  Lake 
George,  waiting  for  a  proper  time  and  opportunity 
to  attack  Fort  William  Henry  at  the  upper  end  of 
the  lake,  thirty  miles  awaj?-. 

On  July  26th,  Colonel  Parker  and  a  party  of  three 
hundred  provincials,  in  fifteen  barges,  was  sent  from 
Fort  William  Henry  to  reconnoitre  the  French  out- 
posts. Unfortunately  for  them  Montcalm's  scouts 
discovered  them,  and  a  large  party  of  Indians  were 
sent  to  lie  in  ambush  at  Sabbath-day  Point.  Parker 
rashly  divided  his  forces,  and  three  of  his  boats  fell 
into  the  snare  and  were  captured  without  a  shot. 
Three  more  advanced  and  shared  the  same  fate. 

When  the  rest  drew  near,  they  were  greeted  by  a 
deadly  volley  from  the  thickets,  and  a  swarm  of 
canoes  filled  with  naked  painted  Indians  darted  out 
upon  them.  The  soldiers  in  the  barges  seem  to  have 
become  panic  stricken,  and  although  they  at  first 
fought  bravely,  they  soon  fled  from  the  pursuing 
canoes,  striving  to  reach  the  beach,  with  the  vain  hope 
of  concealing  themselves  in  the  forests  from  their 
wily  foes. 

But  strive  as  they  did,  they  could  not  escape  the 


132  Advance  of  Montcalm 

swift,  light  canoes,  which,  w  aiting  for  them  to  attempt 
a  landing,  hovered  around  them  like  a  swarm  of  flies 
around  a  bit  of  odorous  cheese.  As  they  jumped  into 
the  water  to  make  a  landing,  the  Indians  were  upon 
them,  spearing  them  like  fish  as  they  swam.  Out  of 
this  unfortunate  expedition,  it  is  said  that  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-one  were  killed,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty-seven  taken  prisoners  by  the  Indians,  three  of 
the  bodies  being  eaten  on  the  spot. 

At  last  on  the  first  of  August,  Montcalm  set  out 
from  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  for  the  long-expected 
attack  on  Fort  William  Henry,  Chevalier  de  Levis, 
with  three  thousand  French  and  Indians,  skirting  the 
western  shore  of  the  lake,  over  mountains  and  through 
forests.  A  former  writer  says :  "  And  now  as  the 
evening  drew  near  was  seen  one  of  those  wild  pag- 
eantries of  war  which  Lake  George  has  often  witnessed. 
A  restless  multitude  of  birchen  canoes,  filled  with 
half-naked  savages,  glided  by  shores  and  islands  like 
troops  of  waterfowl.  Two  hundred  and  fifty  bateaux 
came  next,  moved  by  sail  or  oar,  some  bearing  the 
Canadian  militia,  and  some  the  battalions  of  old 
France,  in  trim  and  gay  attire;  then  the  cannon  and 
mortars,  each  on  a  platform,  sustained  by  two  bateaux 
lashed  side  by  side;  then  the  provision  bateaux,  and 
the  field  hospital,  and  lastly  a  rear-guard  of  regulars." 
Montcalm  chose  for  the  site  of  his  operations  the 
ground  now  covered  by  the  village  of  Caldwell. 

The  progress  of  the  land  party  was  slow,  not  over 
eight  miles  a  day.  At  one  of  the  camps  the  shore 
was  overspread  with  brambles   and  briars,   while  a 


Advance  of  Montcalm  133 

little  way  up  the  mountain  was  the  haunt  of  an  im- 
mense number  of  rattlesnakes.  While  waiting  for 
the  arrival  of  part  of  the  troops,  the  Indians  amused 
themselves  in  hunting  these  rattlesnakes,  which  they 
chase  fearlessly,  considering  it  rare  sport.  When 
caught  alive,  they  cut  off  the  head  and  tail  and  cooked 
the  flesh,  deeming  it  a  great  luxury.  They  considered 
salt  mixed  with  saliva  applied  to  a  rattlesnake's  bite 
a  certain  remedy  against  its  venom. 

At  last  the  French  troops  arrived  at  the  head  of 
the  lake  and  a  landing  was  made  on  the  west  shore 
at  a  spot  concealed  from  view  from  Fort  William 
Henry  by  a  point  of  land  that  projected  into  this 
lake.  The  fort  is  described  as  having  been  an  ir- 
regular bastioned  square,  formed  by  embankments  of 
gravel,  surmounted  by  a  rampart  of  heavy  logs,  laid  in 
tiers  crossed  one  upon  another,  the  interstices  being 
filled  with  earth.  The  lake  protected  it  on  the  north, 
the  swamp  on  the  east,  and  ditches  with  chevaux-de- 
frise  on  the  south  and  west.  Seventeen  cannon, 
great  and  small,  were  mounted  on  its  ramparts.  It 
soon  became  plain  to  the  commandant,  Colonel 
Munro,  that  the  French  were  upon  him  in  over- 
whelming numbers,  and  the  situation  of  the  fortress 
critical,  and  he  at  once  sent  word  to  General  Webb 
at  Fort  Edward  to  send  reinforcements  from  the  four 
thousand  troops  under  his  conmiand. 

But  Webb  gave  no  sign.  Every  day  made  the 
situation  worse,  as  Montcalm  was  advancing  by 
parallels,  until  they  were  extended  even  into  the  gar- 
den adjoining  the  fort.     Repeated  calls  for  assistance 


134  Investment  of  Fort 

from  Webb  met  with  no  response,  until  it  was  plain 
that  Montcalm,  notwithstanding  the  strenuous  re- 
sistance of  Colonel  Munro,  held  the  fort  completely 
at  his  mercy.  At  length  Montcalm  had  all  of  his 
large  cannons  in  position,  and  at  sunrise,  August 
5th,  opened  fire  on  the  fort,  which  replied  with  spirit. 
"  The  cannons  thundered  all  day,  and  from  a  hun- 
dred peaks  and  crags  the  astonished  wilderness  roared 
back  the  sound."  The  Indians  were  delighted  with 
the  uproar,  and  lay  behind  logs  and  fallen  trees, 
yelling  and  dancing  when  they  saw  the  splinters  fly 
from  the  wooden  ramparts. 

At  this  time  Munro  received  a  communication  from 
General  Webb  informing  him  that  he  could  not  send 
reinforcements  and  advising  him  to  make  the  best 
terms  possible  with  Montcalm.  Still  the  battle  raged 
and  the  besieged  fought  with  the  courage  of  despair. 
Their  condition  was  now  deplorable.  More  than 
three  hundred  of  them  had  been  killed  and  wounded ; 
small-pox  was  raging  in  the  fort,  and  the  casemates 
were  crowded  with  the  sick.  A  sortie  from  the  en- 
trenched camp  and  another  from  the  fort  had  been 
repulsed  with  loss.  All  of  the  large  cannons  and 
mortars  had  been  burst  or  disabled  by  shot,  only  seven 
small  pieces  were  left  fit  for  service,  and  the  whole 
of  Montcalm's  thirty-one  guns  and  fifteen  mortars 
would  soon  open  fire,  while  the  walls  were  already 
breached  and  an  assault  was  imminent.  Through  the 
night  of  the  8th,  the  fort  fired  briskly  from  all  its 
remaining  small  pieces,  but  the  morning  found  the 
white  flag  raised  above  the  rampart  and  officers  of 


Investment  of  Fort  135 

both  armies  in  consultation  in  the  tent  of  General 
Montcalm,  and  soon  it  was  known  that  terms  of  ca- 
pitulation had  been  signed.  It  was  agreed  that  the 
English  troops  should  march  out  with  all  the  honors 
of  M^ar,  and  be  escorted  to  Fort  Edward  by  a  detach- 
ment of  French  troops;  that  they  should  not  serve 
again  for  eighteen  months,  and  that  all  the  French 
prisoners  captured  in  America  since  the  war  began 
should  be  given  up  within  three  months.  The 
stores,  munitions,  and  artillerj^  were  to  be  the  prize 
of  the  French,  except  one  field  piece,  which  the  garri- 
son should  retain  in  recognition  of  their  brave  defence. 

Before  signing  the  papers,  Montcalm  called  the 
Indian  chiefs  in  council  and  asked  them  to  consent 
to  the  conditions,  and  promise  to  restrain  their  young 
warriors  from  any  disorder.  To  this  they  assented. 
Colonel  Munro  then  gave  orders  to  evacuate  the  fort, 
and  the  garrison  marched  out  to  join  their  comrades 
in  the  entrenched  camp  (now  known  as  the  ruins  of 
old  Fort  George)  on  the  road  to  Fort  Edward. 

No  sooner  were  they  gone,  than  a  crowd  of  Indians 
clambered  into  the  casemates  in  search  of  rum  and 
plunder,  and  butchered  all  the  sick  men  lying  there. 
The  missionary  Roubaud  says,  "  I  saw  one  of  these 
savages  come  out  of  the  casemate  with  a  human  head 
in  his  hand  from  which  the  blood  ran  in  streams." 
There  was  but  little  plunder  left  in  the  fort,  and  the 
Indians  and  the  more  lawless  of  the  Canadians  hur- 
ried to  the  entrenched  camp  where  all  the  English 
were  collected. 

The  inadequate  French  guard  could  not,  or  would 


136  Surrender 

not,  keep  out  the  rabble,  and  Montcalm  advised  the 
English  to  stave  in  their  rum-barrels,  but  the  In- 
dians, consumed  with  the  lust  for  human  butchery, 
roamed  among  the  tents,  the  glitter  of  their  vicious 
eyes  telling  of  the  devil  within.  Grinning  like 
fiends,  they  handled  the  hair  of  the  women,  in  anti- 
cipation of  the  use  of  the  scalping  knife,  while  the 
children  were  crazed  with  fright.  The  presence  of 
INIontcalm  and  other  French  officers,  who  used 
prayers  and  threats,  prevented  any  atrocities  being 
committed  that  afternoon,  although  the  Indians  ob- 
tained many  articles  of  plunder.  At  last  toward 
evening  order  seemed  restored,  and  four  hundred 
French  soldiers  were  ordered  to  guard  the  fugitives 
the  next  morning,  on  their  march  to  Fort  Edward. 
(The  whole  of  the  French  regulars  would  not  have 
been  too  many  to  protect  them.) 

The  English  having  passed  a  sleepless  night  hur- 
riedly started  at  daybreak,  before  their  guard  of 
French  soldiers  made  their  appearance.  They  had 
muskets  but  no  ammunition,  and  but  a  few  had  bay- 
onets. But  the  Indians  were  on  the  alert.  Seven- 
teen wounded  men  of  Colonel  Frye's  regiment  lay 
in  huts  unable  to  march.  As  soon  as  the  movement 
began,  the  Indians  rushed  into  the  huts,  dragged 
them  out,  and  tomahawked  and  scalped  them  all. 

A  scene  of  plundering  then  began.  The  escort 
had  by  this  time  arrived,  but  when  the  Indians  de- 
manded the  baggage  of  the  English,  the  French 
soldiers  not  only  failed  to  protect  them,  but  advised 
them  to  give  it  up.     The  savages  demanded  rum,  and 


Massacre  137 

some  of  the  soldiers,  afraid  to  refuse,  gave  it  to  them 
from  their  canteens,  thus  adding  fuel  to  the  flames. 
When  after  much  difficult}^  the  column  at  last  got 
out  of  camp,  the  Indians  crowded  upon  them, 
snatched  capes,  coats,  and  weapons  from  the  men 
and  officers,  tomahawked  those  who  resisted,  and, 
seizing  shrieking  women  and  children,  dragged  them 
off  and  murdered  them  on  the  spot. 

Suddenly  there  arose  the  screech  of  the  war-whoop. 
At  this  signal  of  butcher}^  a  mob  of  savages  rushed 
upon  the  rear  of  the  column,  and,  amid  ferocious 
war-whoops  and  the  anguished  shrieks  of  the  doomed 
fugitives,  killed  eighty  of  them.  Many  were  seized 
and  dragged  awaj"  prisoners.  Montcalm,  hastening 
from  camp  at  the  sound  of  the  tumult,  took  a  young 
English  officer  from  an  Indian,  whereupon  several 
others  tomahawked  their  prisoners  lest  they  too  should 
be  taken  from  them. 

The  English  seemed  paralyzed  and  fortunately  did 
not  attempt  resistance,  which,  out  of  ammunition  as 
they  were,  would  have  ended  in  a  general  massacre. 

The  broken  column  struggled  forward  in  wild  dis- 
order amid  yells  and  shrieks,  till  they  reached  the 
French  advance  guard,  which  consisted  of  Cana- 
dians; and  here  they  demanded  protection  of  the 
officers,  who  refused  to  give  it,  telling  them  to  take 
to  the  woods  and  shift  for  themselves.  Colonel  Frye, 
one  of  the  English  officers,  was  seized  by  a  number 
of  Indians  who,  with  spears  and  tomahawks,  threat- 
ened him  with  death,  and  stripped  him  of  his  clothing 
except  his  breeches  and  shoes,  in  which  condition  he 


138  Massacre 

leaped  upon  an  Indian  who  stood  in  his  way,  dis- 
armed and  killed  him,  and  then  escaped  to  the  woods. 
Jonathan  Carver,  a  provincial  volunteer,  declares  that 
when  the  tumult  was  at  its  height,  he  saw  officers  of 
the  French  army  walking  about  unconcernedly,  a 
short  distance  away.  Three  or  four  Indians  seized 
him,  brandished  their  tomahawks  over  his  head,  and 
tore  off  most  of  his  clothing,  while  he  vainly  claimed 
protection  from  a  French  sentinel,  who  called  him 
an  English  dog  and  thrust  him  back  among  his  tor- 
mentors. Two  of  the  Indians  dragged  him  towards 
a  neighboring  swamp,  when  an  English  officer, 
stripped  to  his  scarlet  breeches,  ran  by.  One  of  Car- 
ver's captors  sprang  upon  him  but  was  thrown  to 
the  ground,  whereupon  the  other  went  to  the  aid  of 
his  comrade  and  drove  his  tomahawk  in  the  back  of 
the  Englishman.  A  lad  twelve  years  old  ran  by, 
but  was  seized  and  killed.  Carver,  however,  escaped 
to  the  woods,  and  after  three  days  of  famine  reached 
Fort  Edward. 

How  many  Englishmen  were  killed  it  is  impossible 
to  say  with  exactness.  But  not  more  than  four  hun- 
dred of  the  garrison  arrived  at  Fort  Edward,  at  the 
close  of  that  dreadful  day.  Hundreds  were  carried 
away  prisoners,  while  six  or  seven  hundred  were 
stripped  of  their  clothing,  and  more  or  less  injured. 
Husbands  were  torn  from  their  wives,  and  children 
from  their  mothers,  many  were  killed,  and  others, 
maltreated  and  disabled,  were  left  in  the  forests,  while 
more  than  a  hundred  were  butchered  at  the  first 
onslaught. 


Destruction  of  Fort  William  Henry      139 

After  the  frenzy  of  the  Indians  had  exhausted  it- 
self, the  French  collected  all  the  refugees  and  prison- 
ers that  were  redeemed  from  the  savages,  and 
conducted  them  to  Fort  George  at  the  entrenched 
camp,  where  food  and  shelter  were  provided  for  them, 
and  a  strong  guard  protected  them  until  August  15th, 
when  they  w^ere  escorted  to  Fort  Edward. 

On  the  day  after  the  massacre,  the  Indians  set  out 
in  a  bod}''  for  ]Montreal,  carrying  their  plunder  and 
about  two  hundred  prisoners.  The  demolishing  of 
the  English  fort  occupied  several  days.  The  bar- 
racks were  torn  down,  and  the  pine  logs  of  the  ram- 
parts were  thrown  in  a  heap;  the  dead  bodies  that 
filled  the  casemates  were  added  to  the  pile,  and  the 
whole  set  on  fire.  Parkman  says:  "The  mighty 
funeral  pyre  blazed  all  night.  Then  on  the  16th 
the  French  army  re-embarked.  The  din  of  ten  thou- 
sand combatants,  the  rage,  the  terror,  the  agony 
were  gone;  and  no  living  thing  was  left  but  the 
wolves  that  gathered  from  the  mountains  to  feast  on 
the  dead." 

In  1756-57  the  Earl  of  Loudoun  was  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  British  forces  in  America,  but  seems  to 
have  been  incompetent,  and  was  soon  recalled,  leaving 
Major-General  Abercrombie  in  command  of  the 
army.  Of  JNIajor-General  Loudoun,  Franklin  is  re- 
ported to  have  said,  "  He  is  like  little  St.  George  on 
the  sign-board,  always  on  horseback  but  never  going 
forward." 

Close  upon  the  fall  of  Fort  William  Henry  came 
disquieting  rumors  of  disaster  running  like  wildfire 


I40  Sir  William  Johnson 

through  the  colonies.  The  numher  and  ferocity  of 
the  enemy  were  grossly  exaggerated,  and  alarm  was 
felt  that  Albany,  and  even  New  York,  were  in  danger 
of  attack,  and  it  was  reported  that  Webb  at  Fort 
Edward  was  in  favor  of  retreating  to  the  highlands 
of  the  Hudson.  It  is  said  that  when  too  late  for  the 
succor  of  Fort  William  Henry  thousands  of  militia 
came  pouring  in  from  the  neighboring  province,  and 
Johnson  with  a  band  of  IMohawks,  declaring  that 
they  were  ready  to  fight  but  not  to  lie  still  without 
tents,  blankets,  or  kettles.  Forays,  however,  were 
made  by  the  rangers.  JVIost  of  these  forays  were  suc- 
cessful in  a  small  way,  and  kept  the  French  at  Ticon- 
deroga  on  the  alert,  within  their  fortifications.  At 
this  period  IMajor  Robert  Rogers  was  a  picturesque 
personage  and  with  his  rangers  assisted  materially 
in  keeping  alive  a  strenuous  war  spirit  in  the  vicinitj?- 
of  the  lakes. 

From  W.  L.  Stone's  Life  of  Sir  William  Johnson 
we  gather  additional  information  of  the  siege  of  Fort 
William  Henry. 

"  The  Baronet  was  at  Fort  Johnson  holding  a  con- 
ference with  the  Cherokee  Indians,  when  he  received 
the  news  of  the  investment  of  Fort  William  Henry 
by  Montcalm.  He  at  once  collected  what  militia  and 
Indians  he  could  muster,  and  arrived  at  Fort  Ed- 
ward two  days  after.  Seeing  at  once  the  position 
of  affairs,  he  begged  that  he  might  be  sent  to  the 
aid  of  Colonel  IVIunro.  After  repeated  solicitations 
his  request  was  granted,  but  scarcely  was  he  on  his 
way,  with  Putnam's  rangers  and  some  provincials  who 


Sir  William  Johnson  141 

had  volunteered  to  share  the  danger,  when  Webb 
ordered  him  and  his  detachment  back,  and  sent  in  its 
place  a  letter  advising  JNIunro  to  surrender." 

Augustus  C.  Buell  says: 

*'  Two  days  after  the  formal  investment.  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  joined  Webb  from  Albany  with  nearly 
two  thousand  provincials  and  five  hundred  or  six 
hundred  Iroquois  Indians.  He  asked  Webb  to  give 
him  another  thousand  men  and  let  him  march  at 
once  to  the  relief  of  INIunro. 

"  Webb  at  first  assented,  but,  when  Johnson's  head 
of  column  had  got  about  four  miles  from  Fort  Ed- 
ward, peremptorily  recalled  him,  saying  Montcalm 
was  too  strong  for  him  and  expressing  fear  that 
Johnson  would  share  the  fate  of  Braddock. 

"  In  vain  Sir  William  assured  him  that  his  scouts, 
both  Indians  and  Stark's  rangers,  had  informed  him 
that  the  French  force  did  not  exceed  six  thousand 
men.  Webb  was  firm  and  would  not  let  them  go. 
Irresolute  in  everything  else,  he  could  be  firm 
only  in  his  poltroonery  and  consistent  only  in  his 
cowardice." 


CHAPTER  X 

GENER^iL    ABERCROMBIE's    ATTACK    ON    FORT    TICONDE- 

ROGA,   1758 GENERAL  SIR  J.  AMHERST's 

CAMPAIGN,    1759 

nnHE  following  account  of  General  Abercrombie's 
*^  attack  on  Fort  Ticonderoga,  from  James 
Macauley's  History  of  New  York  (New  York,  1829) , 
may  be  of  interest  to  the  reader: 

"  The  expedition  against  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point  was  conducted  by  Abercrombie  in  person.  In 
the  beginning  of  July  he  embarked  his  forces,  amount- 
ing to  nearly  seven  thousand  regulars  and  ten  thou- 
sand provincials,  on  Lake  George,  on  board  of  nine 
hundred  bateaux,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
whale-boats,  with  provisions,  artillery,  and  ammuni- 
tion. Several  pieces  of  cannon  were  mounted  on 
rafts,  to  cover  the  proposed  landing  at  the  outlet  of 
the  lake.  Early  the  next  morning  he  reached  the 
landing  place,  which  was  in  a  cove  on  the  w^est  side 
of  the  lake  near  its  issue,  leading  to  the  advanced 
guard  of  the  enemy,  comj)osed  of  one  battalion,  in  a 
logged  camp. 

"  He  immediately  debarked  his  forces  and,  after 
having  formed  them  into  three  columns,  marched  to  the 

enemy's  advanced  post,  which  was  abandoned  with 

142 


Fort  Ticonderoga  143 

precipitation.  He  continued  his  march  with  the  army 
towards  Ticonderoga,  with  the  intention  of  investing 
it;  but  the  route  lying  through  a  thick  wood  that 
did  not  admit  of  any  regular  progressions,  and  the 
guides  proving  extremely  ignorant,  the  troops  were 
bewildered,  and  the  columns  broken  by  falling  in 
one  on  another. 

"  Lord  Howe,  being  advanced  at  the  head  of  the 
right  centre  column,  encountered  a  French  detach- 
ment, that  had  likewise  lost  its  way  in  the  retreat  from 
the  advanced  post,  and  a  warm  skirmish  ensuing,  the 
enemy  were  routed  with  considerable  loss;  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-eight  were  taken  prisoners.  This 
advantage  was  purchased  at  a  dear  rate.  Lord 
Howe,  and  one  other  officer,  besides  privates,  were 
killed.  The  former  is  spoken  of  in  very  high  terms 
for  his  bravery. 

"  Abercrombie,  perceiving  the  troops  were  greatly 
fatigued  and  disordered,  deemed  it  advisable  to  fall 
back  to  the  landing  place.  Then  he  detached  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Bradstreet,  with  a  detachment,  to  take 
possession  of  a  saw-mill  in  the  vicinity  of  Ticonde- 
roga, which  the  enemy  had  abandoned.  This  post 
being  secured,  Abercrombie  advanced  again  towards 
Ticonderoga,  where,  he  understood  from  the  prison- 
ers, the  enemy  had  assembled  eight  battalions,  with 
a  body  of  Canadians  and  Indians,  amounting  in  all 
to  six  thousand  men.  The  actual  number,  however, 
was  considerably  less,  not  exceeding  four  thousand 
men,  as  was  afterward  ascertained.  These,  they  said, 
being  encamped  before  the  fort,  were  employed  making 


144  Second  Day's  Battle 

a  formidable  entrenchment,  where  they  intended  to 
wait  for  a  reinforcement  of  three  thousand  men, 
who  had  been  detached,  under  the  command  of  M.  de 
Levi,  to  make  a  diversion  on  the  side  of  the  Mohawk ; 
but  upon  intelligence  of  Abercrombie's  approach, 
were  now  recalled  for  the  defence  of  Ticonderoga. 

"  This  information  induced  Abercrombie  to  strike, 
if  possible,  some  decisive  blow  before  the  junction 
could  be  effected.  He  therefore  early  next  morning 
sent  his  engineer  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's  entrench- 
ments; and  he,  upon  his  return,  reported  that  the 
works,  being  still  unfinished,  might  be  attempted  with 
good  prospect  of  success.  A  disposition  was  made 
accordingly  for  the  attack,  and  after  proper  guards 
had  been  left  at  the  saw-mill  and  the  landing  place, 
the  whole  army  was  put  in  motion.  The  troops 
advanced  with  great  alacrity  towards  the  entrench- 
ments, which,  however,  they  found  altogether  im- 
practicable. The  breastwork  was  raised  eight  feet 
high  and  the  ground  before  it  covered  with  an  abatis, 
or  felled  trees,  with  their  boughs  pointing  outward, 
and  projecting  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render  the 
entrenchment  almost  inaccessible. 

"  Notwithstanding  these  discouraging  difficulties, 
the  troops  marched  up  to  the  assault  with  an  un- 
daunted resolution,  and  sustained  a  terrible  fire.  They 
endeavored  to  force  their  way  through  these  em- 
barrassments, and  some  of  them  even  mounted  the 
parapet;  but  the  enemy  were  so  well  covered,  and 
defended  their  works  with  so  much  gallantry,  not- 
withstanding their  greatly  inferior  numbers,  that  no 


Defeat  of  Abercrombie  145 

impression  could  be  made;  the  carnage  became  fear- 
fully great,  and  the  assailants  began  to  fall  into  great 
confusion,  after  several  attacks,  which  lasted  several 
hours.  Abercrombie  by  this  time  saw  plainly  that 
no  hope  of  success  remained;  and  in  order  to  prevent 
a  total  defeat,  sounded  a  retreat,  leaving  about  two 
thousand  men  on  the  field. 

"  Every  corps  of  the  army  behaved,  on  this  un- 
fortunate day,  with  remarkable  intrepidity ;  the  great- 
est loss  sustained  among  the  corps,  was  that  of  the 
regiment  of  Lord  John  Murray." 

The  demoralization  of  this  body  of  fifteen  thousand 
British  regulars,  heroes  of  many  battles,  has  no 
parallel  in  modern  history  and  could  have  happened 
in  no  other  country;  a  body  of  veterans  stampeded  by 
the  blood-curdling  war-cry  of  half  a  hundred  In- 
dians. But  Braddock's  defeat  and  almost  total  an- 
nihilation at  Fort  Duquesne  a  few  months  before  had 
been  recounted  with  ghastly  embellishment  and  ex- 
aggerated accounts  of  Indian  atrocities,  and  it  was 
the  unknown  that  stampeded  this  bewildered  army 
lost  in  the  forest.  All  formation  had  been  lost,  each 
man  went  for  himself,  impelled  by  his  own  petty  fears 
of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife.  The  fear  that 
each  individual  felt  that  he  was  to  experience  the 
gruesome  horrors  of  an  Indian  ambuscade,  sent  the 
regulars  scurrying  through  the  forests,  they  knew 
not  where. 

"  The  rashness  of  Abercrombie  before  the  fight  was 
matched  by  his  poltroonery  after  it,"  says  Parkman. 


146  Defeat  of  Abercrombie 

"  Such  was  his  terror  that  on  the  evening  of  his  de- 
feat he  sent  an  order  to  Colonel  Cummings,  com- 
manding at  Fort  William  Henrj^  to  send  all  the 
sick  and  wounded  and  all  the  heavy  artillery  to  New 
York  without  delay." 

Colonel  Williams  sends  the  miserable  story  to  his 
uncle  Israel,  which  ends  as  follows: 

"  I  have  told  the  facts;  you  may  put  the  epithets 
upon  them.  In  one  word,  what  with  fatigue,  want 
of  sleep,  exercise  of  mind,  and  leaving  the  place  we 
went  to  capture,  the  best  part  of  the  army  is  un- 
hinged. I  have  told  you  enough  to  make  you  sick, 
if  the  relation  acts  on  you  as  the  facts  on  me." 

A  story  is  told  of  a  provincial  soldier  named  Wil- 
liam Smith,  who  fought  his  way  through  the  obstruct- 
ing abatis  close  under  the  breastworks,  where 
unnoticed  he  shot  several  Frenchmen.  Being  at 
length  observed,  a  French  soldier  shot  vertically  down 
from  the  top  of  a  wall,  wounding  him  severely  but 
not  enough  to  prevent  him  from  springing  up  to 
the  wall  and  braining  one  of  his  assailants  with  his 
hatchet.  A  British  officer  observing  the  act  and 
struck  with  the  reckless  daring  of  the  man  sent  two 
regulars  to  bring  him  off,  a  thing  which  they  suc- 
ceeded in  doing  in  spite  of  a  brisk  fire  of  musketry. 
He  recovered  from  his  wounds  in  due  course  but  spent 
most  of  the  time  during  his  convalescence  in  raging 
and  in  swearing  at  the  Frenchman  who  had  shot  him. 

With  the  loss  of  two  thousand  men  and  the  demor- 
alization of  the  General  and  his  army  the  return  up 
the  lakes  was  the  opposite  to  the  joyous,  gallant  array 


Rage  of  the  Black  Watch  i47 

witnessed  only  three  days  previous.  No  trumpet, 
bagpipe,  or  drum  awaked  the  echoes  on  that  early 
morning. 

The  Black  Watch,  some  raging,  swearing,  tearful, 
others  tying  in  the  listlessness  of  exhaustion,  were  all 
disordered,  dishevelled,  dejected,  their  flesh  and 
garments  torn  and  bloody. 

Thus  these  disheartened  troops  sailed  up  the  lake, 
passed  the  site  of  Fort  William  Henry  still  onward 
until  General  "  Nabbycrombie "  (as  the  soldiers 
called  him)  reached  Albany.  From  this  point  the 
soldiers  were  distributed  along  the  JSIohawk  Valley. 
It  would  seem  that  the  only  sensible  thing  the  General 
did  in  this  campaign  was  to  order  a  fort  built  on  the 
Mohawk  at  Rome ;  this  was  accomplished  by  General 
Stanwix  on  his  return  from  Oswego  and  named  Fort 
Stanwix.  This  fort  was  renamed  Fort  Schuyler  dur- 
ing the  War  of  the  Revolution,  and  played  a  very 
vital  part  in  defeating  what  is  called  Burgoyne's  plan 
of  campaign.  Its  stern  resistance,  and  the  courage 
of  the  patriots  of  the  valley  at  the  gruesome  battle  of 
Oriskany,  turned  back  St.  Leger's  army  and  broke 
the  cordon  drawn  around  northern  New  York  by 
General  Burgoyne. 

General  Sir  Jeffrey  Amlierst's  campaign,  1759, 
need  not  take  up  much  space,  as  we  do  not  intend  to 
follow  him  beyond  the  Richelieu  River. 

He  was  born  in  1717  and  became  ensign  in  1731. 
In  1756  he  was  promoted  to  ISIajor-General  and  given 
the  command  of  the  expedition  against  Louisburg  in 


148  General  Amherst's  Campaign 

1758.  In  September  after  the  disastrous  defeat  of 
General  Abercrombie  he  was  appointed  commander- 
in-chief  in  America,  and  in  June,  1759,  he  led  the 
grand  central  advance  against  Ticonderoga,  Crown 
Point,  and  Montreal. 

It  is  said  that  Amherst  never  was  long  in  one  place 
without  building  a  fort,  and  when  his  army  of  eleven 
thousand  men  halted  at  the  head  of  Lake  George  on  the 
site  of  Fort  William  Henry,  he  began  a  very  needless 
fortification,  which  was  never  finished,  and  called  it 
Fort  George. 

The  army  embarked  on  Lake  George  on  the  21st 
of  July  and  again  the  old  mountains  looked  down 
on  an  almost  endless  procession  of  boats  and  bateaux, 
laden  with  red-coated  soldiers  and  with  provincials  in 
more  sober  attire,  who  were  accompanied  by  musicians 
playing  on  drums  and  trumpets,  and  with  artillery 
and  baggage. 

At  daylight  the  next  morning  they  landed  with  little 
or  no  resistance.  They  occupied  the  high  ground  and 
advanced  to  the  famous  line  of  entrenchments  which 
the  soldiers  of  Abercrombie  so  vainly  stormed  the 
year  before.  It  is  said  that  the  French  commander 
had  a  force  but  a  little  less  than  that  of  Montcalm, 
while  the  British  army  had  about  five  thousand  men 
less  than  that  of  1758. 

The  works  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  had  been  partly 
reconstructed,  but  the  fort  lacked  the  fearful  abatis. 

Approaches  with  artillery  were  made  in  due  form, 
but  on  the  23d  it  was  found  that  Bourlamaque, 
the    French    commander,    had    retired    down    Lake 


General  Amherst's  Campaign  149 

Champlain,  leaving  only  a  nominal  force  to  keep 
up  an  appearance  of  resistance.  They  kept  up  a 
hrisk  fire,  but  on  the  26th,  in  obedience  to  the 
instructions  to  the  French  commander,  they  evac- 
uated the  fort.  About  eleven  o'clock  that  night  the 
fort  was  blown  up  and  later  it  w^as  found  that  the 
balance  of  the  garrison  had  retired.  The  fort  was 
but  little  injured  as  only  one  bastion  was  destroyed 
by  the  explosion. 

August  1st  it  was  found  that  the  French  troops 
had  also  evacuated  Crown  Point  and  had  retired  to 
the  Isle-aux-Noix,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Champlain; 
and  this  ended  the  occupation  of  the  Champlain 
Valley  by  France  after  a  century  and  a  half  of  war- 
fare and  atrocities  committed  by  their  barbarous 
allies. 

The  next  year  Amherst  proceeded  down  the  St. 
Lawrence,  took  Montreal,  and  completed  the  conquest 
of  New  France. 


CHAPTER  XI 


LORD   HOWE 


TN  nearly  every  account  of  the  death  of  Lord  George 
^  Augustus  Howe  I  have  found  extracts  from  Mrs. 
Grant  of  Laggan's  Memoirs  of  an  American  JLady, 
and  in  reading  this  book,  I  have  been  charmed  with 
her  descriptions  of  places  and  events,  which  seemed 
to  have  been  written  by  an  eye-witness,  and  I  have 
wondered  why  she  had  not  given  us  more  of  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  death  and  burial  of  Lord  Howe. 

It  is  true  that  she  tells  us  of  his  character,  his  mode 
of  life,  and  of  some  innovations  which  he  introduced 
among  the  soldiers  under  his  immediate  care,  such  as 
cutting  off  their  hair,  and  the  abbreviation  of  some  of 
their  costume  and  accoutrements,  while  on  the  march. 

Either  Mrs.  Grant  must  have  been  exceedingly 
precocious  or  had  a  most  wonderful  memory,  as  we 
are  told  that  she  was  born  in  1755,  and  at  the  time 
of  the  battle  of  Ticonderoga,  in  1758,  was  only  three 
years  old,  and  that  it  was  not  until  1762,  when  she 
was  only  seven  years  old,  that  she  met  Mrs.  Schuyler 
of  Albany.  She  returned  to  Scotland  with  her  fam- 
ily in  1768,  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years,  and  her 
memoirs  were  not  written  until  nearly  half  a  century 
later   (1807). 

150 


Lord  Howe  151 

However,  she  certainly  absorbed  a  wonderful 
amount  of  information  from  her  friend  Mrs.  Schuyler, 
as  her  book  is  filled  with  good  and  valuable  material, 
particularly  her  description  of  Albany  and  the  man- 
ners and  customs  of  the  good  Dutch  people  of  early 
date. 

Having  learned  the  above  facts  recently,  I  am  not 
at  all  surprised  to  find  no  mention  made  of  the  man- 
ner of  the  death  of  Lord  Howe,  or  any  particulars 
of  his  burial. 

O'Callaghan  gives  the  following:  "George  Au- 
gustus Lord  Viscount  Howe,  eldest  son  of  Sir  E. 
Scrope,  second  Lord  Viscount  Howe,  in  the  peerage 
of  Ireland,  was  born  in  1725  and  succeeded  to  the 
title  on  the  death  of  his  father  in  1735.  In  the  fore- 
part of  1757  he  was  ordered  to  America,  being  the 
Colonel  commanding  the  60th,  or  Royal  Americans, 
and  arrived  at  Halifax  in  July  following.  On  Sep- 
tember 28,  1757,  he  was  appointed  Colonel  of  the 
55th  foot,  and  on  December  29th,  Brigadier-General 
in  America.  In  the  next  year,  when  Abercrombie 
was  chosen  to  proceed  against  Ticonderoga,  Pitt 
selected  Lord  Howe  to  be  "  the  soul  of  the  enter- 
prise." On  the  8th  of  July,  1758,  he  landed  with 
the  army  at  Howe's  Point,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George,  and  commenced  to  march  along  the  west  road 
for  Ticonderoga,  in  command  of  the  right  centre. 
They  had  proceeded  about  two  miles,  with  an  ad- 
vanced party  of  rangers  under  Lord  Howe,  when 
they  came  upon  a  party  of  Frenchmen  who  had  lost 
their  way.     A  skirmish  ensued  in  which  his  lordship, 


152  Lord  Howe 

"  foremost  fighting,  fell,"  and  expired  immediately. 
"  In  him,"  said  INIante,  "  the  soul  of  the  army  seemed 
to  expire.  By  his  military  talents  and  many  virtues 
he  had  acquired  esteem  and  affection."  Howe's 
corpse  was  escorted  to  Albany  for  interment  by 
Philip  Schuyler,  a  young  hero  of  native  growth  after- 
wards a  general  in  the  Revolution,  and  was  buried  in 
St.  Peter's  Church.  Massachusetts  erected  a  monu- 
ment in  Westminster  Abbey,  at  an  expense  of  £250. 
Lord  Howe  was  a  member  of  Parliament  for 
Nottingham  at  the  time  of  his  decease. 

Lord  HowT  was  the  eldest  of  three  brothers.  His 
brothers  were  Richard,  who  became  Vice-Admiral  in 
1778,  and  General  Sir  William  Howe,  who  was  com- 
mander-in-chief of  the  British  forces  in  America  from 
1775  to  May,  1778. 

I  have  frequently  passed  up  and  down  Lake 
George  on  midsummer  days  in  sunshine  and  in  stomi, 
and  the  beauty  of  that  little  "  Lake  of  the  Moun- 
tains "  has  overwhelmed  me,  with  the  charm  of  its 
quiet  waters  and  the  majesty  of  its  mountains,  which 
are  brought  almost  in  touch  of  the  observer  on  every 
side.  No  brawling  stream  or  quiet  river  contributing 
to  its  source  is  visible.  No  hum  of  industrial  power, 
no  clang  of  hammer  on  steel,  all  is  quiet,  except  the 
swish  of  the  water  at  the  bow  of  the  steamer,  and 
the  slow  measured  beat  of  the  engine.  Even  the 
passengers  converse  in  low  quiet  tones,  as  though  im- 
bued with  the  peace  and  majesty  of  the  scene.  I  have 
tried  to  reproduce,  in  imagination,  the  scene  on  that 
beautiful  morning  in  July,  1758,  when  Abercrombie's 


The  Charm  of  Lake  George  1 53 

army  passed  down  the  lake,  fifteen  thousand  strong, 
to  meet  defeat  at  Ticonderoga.  The  bustle  of  em- 
barkation is  hushed,  and  the  whole  army  is  afloat. 
Never  before  had  those  quiet  mountains  looked  down 
on  such  a  scene,  and  never  again  will  such  an  array 
of  power  and  splendor  be  possible  as  long  as  time 
endures.  The  largest  army  ever  gathered  together 
in  America  was  passing  in  review:  nine  hundred 
bateaux,  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  whale-boats,  and 
a  large  number  of  heavy  flat-boats,  carrying  artillery ; 
the  whole  advancing  in  three  divisions,  the  provincials 
in  front  and  rear,  with  the  regulars  in  the  centre,  each 
corps  with  its  flag  and  music. 

When  they  entered  the  Narrows,  about  ten  o'clock, 
they  extended  back  toward  the  south  in  long  files, 
covering  the  whole  surface  of  the  M-^aters  for  six 
miles,  a  mass  of  color  that  made  the  lake  look  like 
a  tropical  garden  in  bloom:  the  red  of  the  British 
soldiers,  the  green  and  blue  of  the  tartans,  the  olives 
of  buckskin  tunics  of  the  rangers,  and  the  subdued 
colors  of  the  provincials,  the  innumerable  flags  with 
the  red  cross  of  England,  the  glitter  of  baj^onets,  the 
flash  of  steel,  the  bared  heads  and  brown  arms  of  a 
thousand  oarsmen,  parks  of  artillery,  and  anon 
glimpses  of  the  blue  waters  of  the  lake.  The  tower- 
ing heights  of  sombre  green  and  the  cliffs  of  gray 
cast  shadows  varying  the  color  scheme,  as  Shelving 
Rock,  Tongue  Mountain,  Buck  Mountain,  and  Black 
Mountain  drew  close  on  their  narrow  way,  while  the 
bugle,  the  trumpet,  the  bagpipe,  the  drum  were  an- 
swered and  prolonged  by  a  hundred  woodland  echoes. 


154  The  Mountains 

We  will  pass  over  the  landing  of  the  troops  at 
Sabbath-day  Point,  the  re-embarkation  the  next 
morning,  and  the  narrowing  of  the  waters  under  the 
shadow  of  the  famous  Rogers  Rock,  and  the  final 
landing  at  the  mouth  of  the  lake.  Soon  the  fifteen 
thousand  soldiers  were  in  advance  through  the  woods 
on  Fort  Ticonderoga,  divided  into  four  columns,  with 
Lord  Howe  in  command  of  the  van.  With  him 
went  the  rangers,  and  his  friends  Bradstreet,  Put- 
nam, Rogers,  and  Stark.  The  forest  was  extremely- 
dense  and  heavy,  and  the  guides  were  following  an 
Indian  trail.  The  ranks  were  soon  broken  and  the 
guides  became  bewildered;  in  this  confusion  the 
different  columns  mixed  with  each  other,  and  the  army 
became  lost  in  the  forest. 

On  account  of  this  deplorable  situation,  Putnam 
with  two  hundred  rangers  was  sent  in  advance  to 
find  a  way,  if  possible,  out  of  the  maze.  Lord  Howe 
and  his  column  following.  Putnam,  seeing  Lord 
Howe  in  the  van,  said  to  him,  "  Keep  back,  my  Lord, 
keep  back,  you  are  the  idol  and  soul  of  the  army, 
and  my  life  is  worth  but  little."  "  Putnam,"  said 
Howe,  "  your  life  is  as  dear  to  you  as  mine  is  to  me. 
I  am  detemiined  to  follow  with  you."  At  this  time 
an  advance  party  of  French  and  Indians  had  been 
recalled  to  the  fort,  and  they  also  became  bewildered 
and  suddenly  were  aware  that  there  was  another  body 
of  troops  in  the  forest.  Instantly  they  fired,  and  the 
Indians  raised  a  thrilling  w^ar-whoop,  which  put  a 
finishing  touch  to  the  terror  of  the  regulars.  At  the 
volley  from  the  French  battalion  in  the  bushes,  Lord 


Death  of  Lord  Howe  155 

Howe  fell,  dead.  The  rangers,  however,  stood  their 
ground,  saving  the  day.  A  sharp  advance  on  the 
French  detachment  resulted  in  victory.  One  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  prisoners  were  taken,  and  the 
balance,  about  fifty,  were  either  killed  or  drowned  in 
the  stream  in  an  effort  to  escape. 

Nothing,  however,  was  able  to  stop  the  bewildered, 
panic-stricken  regulars,  who  wandered  on  through 
the  woods  towards  the  lake  for  hours,  and  it  was 
early  morning  before  all  of  the  stragglers  found  their 
way  to  the  landing  at  the  foot  of  the  lake,  some  hat- 
less,  others  coatless,  without  shoes  and  muskets. 

A  day  was  passed  in  sleep  and  rest,  and  reorgani- 
zation of  the  different  corps. 

The  day  following  found  the  esprit  de  corps  of  the 
army  restored,  and  the  soldiers  ready  and  anxious 
to  retrieve  themselves  from  the  folly  of  that  disgrace- 
ful day.  Particularly  was  that  the  case  with  the 
Black  Watch,  who,  although  they  lost  not  their  for- 
mation, stumbled  along  in  the  wake  of  the  fugitives, 
growling,  and  cursing  in  rage.  The  thought  that 
the  heroes  of  a  hundred  battles  should  have  been 
stampeded  and  helpless  in  that  cursed  forest,  made 
them  fighting-mad. 

And  then  the  day  after  how  they  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  charges  on  that  almost  impenetrable 
abatis,  how  they  charged  over  and  against  the  sharp- 
ened branches  of  that  prostrate  forest,  again  and 
again,  how  at  times  they  "  could  not  go  forward,  and 
would  not  go  back,"  was  made  manifest  the  next 
morning  at  roll-call  where,  out  of  a  total  force  of 


156  Death  of  Lord  Howe 

eleven  hundred,  306  men  and  7  officers  were  killed 
and  316  men  and  17  officers  wounded,  and  among  the 
mortally  wounded  was  ^lajor  Duncan  Campbell  of 
In  vera  we. 

It  is  said  that  when  the  bateaux  and  boats  of  the 
army  made  their  way  up  the  lake,  a  barge  led  the  way 
bearing  the  bodies  of  Lord  George  Augustus  Howe, 
and  Major  Duncan  Campbell,  Inverawe. 

The  Church  Book  of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Albany, 
contains  the  following  extract: 

"  In  the  death  of  Lord  Howe,  who  fell  at  the  first 
assault,  the  British  army  lost  its  vital  principle — the 
controlling  and  guiding  spirit  of  its  success.  The  next 
day  a  single  barge  retraced  the  track  of  the  flotilla 
bearing  the  body  of  a  young  lord.  Captain  Philip 
Schuyler,  just  entering  on  a  distinguished  career,  es- 
corted the  remains  with  tenderness  and  reverence  due 
the  illustrious  dead;  the  body  was  conveyed  to  Al- 
bany, and  buried  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  which  stood 
in  the  middle  of  State  Street.  His  obsequies  were 
performed  with  pomp.  Heraldic  insignia  marked 
the  location  of  the  grave." 

Forty-four  years  after,  in  the  process  of  demolish- 
ing the  old  church  edifice,  the  grave  of  Lord  Howe 
was  exposed.  A  double  coffin  was  revealed,  the 
outer  of  pine,  the  inner  of  mahogany:  the  latter  was 
almost  entire;  in  a  few  spots  it  was  decayed  and  some 
earth  had  found  its  way  inside. 

"  When  the  lid  was  uncovered,  the  remains  ap- 
peared to  be  enclosed  in  a  rich  damask  cerement,  in 
which  they  were  enshrouded  when  buried.     The  teeth 


The  Grave  of  Lord  Howe  157 

were  bright  and  perfect  and  the  hair  stiff  with  the 
dressing  of  those  days,  the  queue  entire,  the  ribbon 
and  brace  apparently  new  and  jet  black.  All  on  the 
exposure  sunk  into  dust  and  the  relics  of  the  illus- 
trious dead  were  conveyed  to  the  common  charnel 
house  and  mingled  with  other  dead  bodies." 

The  clergy  of  St,  Peter's  say: 

"  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  the  body  of  Lord 
Howe,  who  was  killed  in  a  skirmish  at  Trout  Brook, 
on  July  6,  1758,  is  interred  beneath  the  pavement  of 
the  vestibule  of  the  present  St.  Peter's. 

"  The  burial  register  which  covers  the  date  of  the 
death  of  Lord  Howe  is  unfortunately  lost,  but  among 
the  old  registers  and  account  books  preserved  in  the 
vault  of  St.  Peter's  Church  there  is  a  book  of  treas- 
urer's accounts,  bearing  the  title,  Church  hook  began 
15th  April  1718.  This  book  contains  the  following 
entry,  verbatim  et  literatim: 

"  '  Sept.  5th  To  cash  Rt.  for  ground  to  lay  the  body 
of  Lord  Howe  &  Pall,  £5.  6.  0.'  " 

The  above  statements  have  been  accepted  as  his- 
tory, although  almost  forgotten,  perhaps  because  the 
early  Americans  cared  little  for  a  lord  or  lady,  duke 
or  duchess,  but  a  story  of  research  during  the  last 
two  decades  has  aroused  increasing  interest  in  the 
fate  of  Lord  George  Augustus  Howe.  The  story  is 
as  follows: 

"  On  the  3d  of  October,  1889,  a  workman,  Peter 
Duchane,  while  engaged  with  others  in  digging  a 
trench,  close  by  the  door-yard  fence  of  Mr.  E.  M. 
Gifford,  four  feet  or  more  under  the  ground,  came 


158  The  Grave  of  Lord  Howe 

upon  a  decaj^ed  piece  of  board;  still  digging  he  lifted 
out  a  large  stone  close  against  the  board,  then  a  human 
skull,  then  other  bones  of  a  human  skeleton  but  so 
old  and  decayed  that  in  exhuming  them  from  the 
stiff  clay  they  were  considerably  broken.  The  teeth 
were  those  of  a  young  man,  and  round  and  white  as 
to  the  crown.  The  top  of  the  coffin  had  fallen  in. 
The  sides,  head,  and  bottom  were  there,  but  so  rotten 
that  it  fell  to  pieces  with  a  slight  pressure.  The 
wood  was  thought  to  be  pine  reduced  to  about  half 
an  inch  in  thickness. 

"  The  locality  is  the  same  rising  ground  we  have 
mentioned.  [The  rising  ground  is  the  slope  of  the 
hill  where  the  present  academy  and  union  school  is 
located  at  Ticonderoga.]  The  ground  has  never  be- 
fore been  disturbed  to  any  depth  within  the  memory  of 
the  oldest  inhabitants.  The  highway,  on  the  side  of 
which  the  remains  were  found,  has  been  where  it 
now  runs  for  more  than  ninety  years.  No  burial 
ground  was  ever  within  a  mile  of  the  spot  and 
there  is  no  tradition  or  knowledge  of  any  burial 
there. 

"  Interest  was  at  once  aroused.  The  stone  was 
examined.  It  was  a  hard  limestone  about  ten  inches 
long  by  six  or  seven  inches  wide,  flat  on  one  side  and 
oval  on  the  other,  weighing  twenty  or  twenty-five 
pounds.  It  was  encrusted  with  clay.  In  con- 
sequence of  a  letter  or  character  being  partly  visible 
it  was  carefully  washed,  and  to  the  surprise  of  every- 
body an  inscription  in  capital  letters  was  found  cut 
in  the  hard  surface  in  four  parallel  lines  across  the 


Lord  Howe  159 

stone,  the  letters  being  two  thirds  of  an  inch  high  and 
wide,  thus: 


"  The  letters  were  apparently  pricked  with  a  bay- 
onet or  other  sharp  instrument.  It  was  found  evi- 
dently standing  upright  against  the  head  of  the 
coffin.  A  fragment  of  brass  button,  also  several  nails 
— old-fashioned  hand-made  nails,  such  as  are  found 
in  the  fort — were  found  but  nothing  more." 

The  writer  of  the  article  from  which  I  have  quoted 
has  gathered  together  a  mass  of  negative  testimony. 
"  Non  sequitur,"  although  at  times  one  would  say 
"  thou  almost  persuadest  me." 

He  speaks  of  the  sum  of  money  contributed  by 
the  Province  of  Massachusetts  (250  pounds)  to  be 
paid  to  the  order  of  the  present  Lord  Viscount  Howe 
for  "  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  his  Lordship's 
memory — to  be  situated  in  such  a  place  as  the  present 
Lord  Viscount  Howe  shall  choose." 

Allow  me  to  paraphrase  the  following  paragraph: 

"  And  yet  in  view  of  all  these  facts  regarding  the 
greatness  of  the  man,  his  honorable  reputation,  the 
love  of  his  friends  and  comrades,  his  illustrious  an- 
cestry, we  are  required  to  believe  that  while  West- 
minster Abbey  was  deemed  honored  in  containing  his 
remains  they  were  at  that  time  lying  unhonored, 
although  known  to  the  rustics  of  the  vicinity,  where 
he  fell,  in  the  forest  near  Trout  Brook,  for  a  century 
and  a  half/' 


i6o  Lord  Howe 

In  that  skirmish  but  two  officers  and  five  men  were 
killed.  The  rangers  knew  that  Lord  Howe  w^as 
killed.  Putnam  was  in  touch  with  him  when  he  was 
shot.  Is  it  conceivable  that  Bradstreet,  Stark,  Put- 
nam, Rogers,  Captain  Schuyler,  General  Abercrom- 
bie,  and  in  fact  the  whole  army  would  have  forgotten 
him  as  soon  as  his  heart  ceased  to  beat,  and  left  his 
body  to  the  brutes  of  the  forest,  animal  or  human? 

The  rangers  were  victorious,  the  French  battalion 
was  practically  destroyed,  they  held  the  battle-field, 
they  retired  deliberately:  is  it  conceivable,  I  say,  that 
his  comrades  did  not  search  for  and  remove  the  body 
of  their  honored  friend? 

If  his  grave  was  there  and  known,  why  did  not 
Amherst  know  and  w^hy  did  he  not  have  the  body 
removed  from  the  lonely  grave?  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  next  year,  1759,  the  British  dominated 
Lake  Champlain  and  Lake  George  and  that  the 
French  soldiers  never  returned. 


CHAPTER  XII 

STORY    OF    MAJOR   DUNCAN    CAMPBELL    (iNVERAWE) 

THE  BLACK   WATCH,   FORTY-SECOND   ROYAL 
HIGHLAND   REGIMENT 

\  A  7E  have  passed  the  age  of  superstition,  the  age 
"  '  of  gruesome  visions,  except  those  of  dis- 
ordered minds,  but  I  will  venture  to  say  that  many 
readers  of  this  narrative  could  recount  instances  of 
a  premonition  or  second  sight  that  has  clung  to  them 
through  all  of  their  lives.  Dean  Stanley  and  others 
have  told  the  story  of  the  visions  and  death  of  Dun- 
can Campbell,  the  Chief  of  Inverawe,  the  incidents 
of  which  occurred  in  1742  and  1758. 

On  the  western  shore  of  Scotland  where  the  "  sea 
is  all  islands  and  the  land  all  lakes,"  in  the  country 
commonly  called  Argyleshire,  dwelt  the  Stewarts  of 
Appin.  To  the  east  and  to  the  west  is  a  tract  of 
land  abounding  in  lochs  and  hills  and  vales  over  which 
towers  the  majestic  peak  of  Ben  Cruachan.  Through 
one  of  the  vales  runs  the  river  Deergan,  "  the  river 
of  the  red  stain,"  at  the  mouth  of  which  are  a  number 
of  large  boulders  which  are  called  the  stepping  stones. 
This  place  is  also  known  as  the  Murderer's  Pass.  The 
second  of  the  stepping  stones  is  the  place  where 
Donald    Campbell    was    murdered    by    Stewart    of 

"  i6i 


1 62  Inverawe 

Appin,  near  which  and  under  the  shadow  of  Ben 
Cruachan  stood  an  old  castle,  dark  and  grim — the 
home  of  Duncan  Campbell — laird  of  Inverawe. 

When  we  read  Macaulay's  history,  or  better  still 
Sir  Walter  Scott's  Tales  of  a  Grandfather^  we  are 
apt  to  imagine  that  the  feuds  of  the  Scottish  clans 
and  the  various  raids  of  the  Iroquois  bear  a  striking 
similarity  in  fierce  animosity  and  tragic  ending. 

It  seems  that  in  1742,  Duncan  Campbell  (In- 
verawe), an  officer  in  the  famous  Highland  regiment 
known  as  the  Black  Watch,  when  sent  on  an  expedi- 
tion against  the  adherents  of  Prince  Charley,  lost 
his  way  in  returning.  Straying  into  a  ravine,  he 
found  himself  confronted  by  a  stalwart  Highlander 
with  black  hair  and  piercing  eyes.  Each  grasped 
his  belted  claymore  and  stood  on  the  defensive  while 
the  stranger  demanded  his  errand.  Duncan  Camp- 
bell replied  that  he  had  lost  his  way  and  required  a 
guide.  A  voice  from  the  darkness  said,  "  He  is  alone, 
suffer  him  to  pass,"  whereupon  his  guide,  who  was 
Donald  Campbell,  but  unknown  to  Duncan,  con- 
ducted him  to  an  unknown  camp  in  the  deep  recesses 
of  the  mountains,  gave  him  food,  shared  his  couch 
with  him,  and  in  the  morning,  escorting  him  beyond 
the  sentinels,  set  him  on  the  road  to  his  own  home. 
Inverawe  expressed  his  gratitude  and  vowed  he  would 
repay  the  kindness  if  an  opportunity  offered. 

Many  years  after,  when  the  incident  was  well-nigh 
forgotten,  Inverawe  was  sitting  in  his  castle  chamber 
when  he  was  startled  by  the  sound  of  hasty  footsteps 
accompanied    by   loud   and   hurried    rappings.     An 


In  vera  we  i6 


o 


entertainment  had  been  given  at  the  castle;  the  party 
had  broken  up  and  Inverawe  was  alone.  Answering 
the  summons  he  was  surprised  at  the  appearance  of 
one  of  his  guests  at  his  gate,  Stewart  of  Appin,  with 
torn  and  blood-stained  garments  and  dishevelled  hair, 
demanding  admission.  "  I  have  killed  a  man  and  I 
am  pursued  by  enemies,  I  beseech  you  to  let  me  in. 
Swear  by  your  dirk — upon  the  cruachan,  or  hip  where 
your  dirk  rests — swear  by  Ben  Cruachan — that  you 
will  not  betray  me."  Campbell  swore  and  placed  the 
fugitive  in  a  secret  place  in  the  castle. 

Presently  there  was  a  second  knocking  at  the  gate. 

It  was  a  party  of  his  guests,  who  said,  *'  Your 
cousin,  Donald,  has  been  killed;  where  is  the  mur- 
derer?" At  this  announcement  Campbell,  remember- 
ing the  great  oath  he  had  sworn,  gave  an  evasive 
answer,  and  sent  off  the  pursuers  in  a  WTong  direction. 
At  the  same  time  came  to  his  mind  the  promise  he 
had  given  to  Donald  many  years  ago.  But  there  was 
his  oath  to  protect  the  man  who  had  killed  him. 

He  went  to  the  fugitive  and  said,  "  You  have  killed 
my  cousin  Donald,  I  cannot  keep  you  here."  The 
murderer  appealed  to  his  oaths  and  persuaded  Camp- 
bell to  let  him  stay  for  the  night.  Campbell  or  In- 
veraw^e,  as  he  was  sometimes  called,  did  so  and  retired 
to  rest. 

In  the  visions  of  that  night,  Donald  Campbell  ap- 
peared to  him,  his  clansman,  with  these  words :  "  In- 
verawe, Inverawe,  blood  has  been  shed,  shield  not 
the  murderer."  In  the  morning  Inverawe  went  to 
his  guest,  and  told  him  that  he  could  no  longer  give 


1 64  Inverawe 

him  shelter.  He  took  him,  however,  to  a  cave  in  Ben 
Cruachan  and  there  left  him. 

The  night  again  closed  in,  and  Campbell  again 
slept,  and  again  Donald,  his  murdered  clansman,  with 
black  hair  dishevelled,  his  clothing  disarranged  and 
soiled  with  blood,  appeared  before  him  and  said, 
"  Inverawe,  Inverawe,  blood  has  been  shed,  shield  not 
the  murderer." 

In  the  morning  Inverawe  went  to  the  cave  in  the 
mountain — Ben  Cruachan — and  the  murderer  had 
fled.  And  again  at  midnight,  as  he  sat  by  his  fire 
reading,  as  was  his  custom  before  retiring,  his  hound, 
his  sole  companion,  began  to  tremble  in  every  limb,  and 
finally  to  howl  in  a  low,  dismal  tone.  Raising  his  eyes 
he  saw  the  ghostly  form  of  Donald  Campbell  standing 
before  him  in  ghostly  radiance  with  the  same  blood- 
stained garments  and  dishevelled  appearance.  With 
hands  outstretched  as  if  beseeching  aid  he  said,  "  In- 
verawe, Inverawe,  blood  has  been  shed,  blood  must 
atone  for  blood.  We  shall  not  meet  again  until  we 
meet  at  Ticonderoga."  He  awoke  in  the  morning 
and  behold  it  was  a  dream. 

In  1758,  many  years  afterward,  the  conflict  that  is 
called  the  "  Last  French  and  Indian  War  "  broke 
out.  The  English  Government,  finding  that  the  pro- 
vincials were  unable  to  cope  with  the  situation,  sent 
over  a  large  body  of  British  troops,  under  General 
Abercrombie,  to  capture  Fort  Carillon,  as  it  was  called 
by  the  French,  but  afterwards  called  Fort  Ticonde- 
roga. This  latter  name  was  unknown  to  Scotland, 
and  Duncan  Campbell  as  he  sailed  Lake  George  with 


Death  of  Inverawe  165 

his  command,  the  "  Black  Watch,"  did  not  know 
that  the  fortress  they  were  bound  for  was  ever  called 
Ticonderoga. 

General  Abercromhie,  on  the  eve  of  the  attack, 
came  to  the  officers  and  said,  "  We  had  not  better 
let  Campbell  know  the  name  of  the  fortress  we  are 
to  attack  to-morrow.  It  is  Ticonderoga.  Let  us 
call  it  Fort  George."  The  assault  took  place  in  the 
morning.  Campbell  was  mortally  wounded.  He 
sent  for  the  General.  These  were  his  last  words: 
"  General,  you  have  deceived  me;  I  have  seen  him 
again.     This  is  Ticonderoga." 

The  story  of  the  death  of  Duncan  Campbell,  as 
told  above,  has  been  vouched  for  by  Dean  Stanley  and 
Benson  J.  Lossing,  and  been  verified  in  every  par- 
ticular, except  the  weird  dreams  and  visions,  by  this 
inscription  on  an  antique  brown  stone  slab  in  the 
cemetery  at  Fort  Edward,  in  close  proximity  to  one 
of  plain  white  marble  bearing  the  name  of  the  un- 
fortunate Jane  INIcCrea: 

"  Here  lies  the  body  of  Duncan  Campbell,  of  In- 
verawe, Esq.,  INIajor  to  the  old  Highland  regiment 
[the  Black  Watch],  aged  55  years,  who  died  the  17th 
of  July,  1758,  of  the  wounds  he  received  in  the  attack 
of  the  intrenchments  of  Ticonderoga  or  Carillon,  8th 
July,  1758." 

It  will  be  noticed  by  the  two  dates  given  that 
he  lived  nine  days  after  receiving  his  mortal 
wound. 

In  order  to  commemorate  that  terrible  but  abortive 
charge  in  which  Campbell  lost  his  life,  the  officers  of 


1 66  Black  Watch 

the  Black  Watch  regiment  have  placed  a  tablet  on 
the  historical  building  at  Ticonderoga: 

"  To  commemorate  the  heroic  gallantry  of  the 
Forty-second  Royal  Highland  regiment  at  the  storm- 
ing of  Fort  Ticonderoga  8th  July,  1758,  on  which 
day  out  of  a  total  strength  of  eleven  hundred  the 
regiment  suffered  the  following  casualties:  7  officers 
and  306  rank  and  file  killed;  17  officers  and  316  rank 
and  file  wounded.  This  tablet  is  erected  by  officers 
of  the  regiment,     a.d.  1906." 

The  history  of  this  celebrated  regiment  is  as 
follows : 

In  1729  the  Government  entertained  the  idea  of 
making  use  of  the  Highlanders  as  a  means  of  protect- 
ing the  country  which  was  then  in  an  unsettled  state, 
and  to  this  end  six  companies  were  formed:  three 
companies  consisted  of  one  hundred  men  each  and 
the  other  three  of  seventy-five  men  each.  The  first 
three  companies  were  commanded  by  Lord  Lovat,  Sir 
Duncan  Campbell  of  Lochnell,  and  Colonel  Grant 
of  Ballindalloch;  the  three  smaller  companies,  by  Col- 
onel Alexander  Campbell  of  Finab,  John  Campbell  of 
Carrick,  and  George  Munro  of  Culcairn  as  captain- 
lieutenants.  To  distinguish  them  from  royal  troops 
they  wore  tartans  of  a  dark  color,  from  which  they 
derived  the  name  of  the  "  Black  Watch."  The  men 
were  all  of  respectable  families,  many  of  them  being 
sons  of  gentlemen.  Their  duties  consisted  in  carry- 
ing out  the  Disarming  Act  and  preventing  depreda- 
tions; for  this  purpose  they  were  quartered  in  small 


Black  Watch  167 

detachments  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  chiefly 
in  the  more  troubled  districts  of  the  Highlands,  where 
the  Jacobite  clans  of  Cameron,  Stuart,  ]\IacDonald, 
and  Murray  rendered  their  presence  necessary  to 
prevent  a  sudden  rising,  the  various  companies  act- 
ing independently  of  each  other.  In  1740  the  Gov- 
ernment determined  to  add  to  their  number,  which 
was  raised  to  one  thousand  men,  who  mustered  for 
the  first  time,  near  Taybridge,  Perthshire. 

Up  to  this  period  each  company  was  dressed  in 
tartans  selected  by  its  commander,  but  as  the  com- 
panies were  now  to  form  one  regiment,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  have  a  uniform  dress.  The  first  colonel,  Lord 
Crawford,  being  a  Lowlander,  and  having  no  tartan 
of  his  own,  a  new  tartan  different  from  any  other 
was  manufactured  for  the  whole  regiment.  This 
ultimately  became  the  well-known  Forty-second  or 
Black  Watch;  the  tartan  is  composed  of  various 
shades  of  black,  green,  and  blue. 

From  the  color  of  the  uniform  of  the  regular  troops, 
they  were  called  red  soldiers  (Saighdearan  Dearg)  ; 
the  Highlanders  from  their  sombre  dress,  the  Black 
Watch  (Freiceadan  Dubh).  ^Ir.  Cameron  in  his 
Military  History,  in  writing  of  this  regiment,  thus 
eulogizes  the  Highland  soldiers :  "  The  Highland- 
ers of  Scotland  have  been  conspicuous  for  the  pos- 
session of  eveiy  military  virtue  which  adorns  the 
character  of  the  hero  who  has  adopted  the  profession 
of  arms.  Naturally  patient  and  brave,  and  inured 
to  hardships  in  their  youth  in  the  hilly  districts  of 
a  northern  climate,  these  warlike  mountaineers  have 


1 68  Black  Watch 

always  proved  themselves  a  race  of  lion-like  cham- 
pions, valiant  in  the  field,  faithful,  constant,  generous 
in  the  hour  of  victory,  and  endued  with  calm  perse- 
verance under  trial  and  disaster."  The  Black  Watch, 
since  its  formation,  has  taken  a  brilliant  part  in  nearly 
every  war  its  country  has  been  engaged  in,  and  has 
fought  with  honor  in  eveiy  quarter  of  the  globe. 
The  more  important  engagements  include  Egypt, 
Corunna,  Fuentes  d'Onor,  Pyrenees,  Nivelle,  Nive, 
Orthes,  Toulouse,  Peninsula,  Waterloo,  Alma,  Sevas- 
topol, Lucknow,  Ashanti,  Egypt  1882-84,  Tel-el- 
Kebir,  Nile  1884-85,  Kirbekan.  On  its  colors  it 
bears  the  names  of  "  Pyrenees,  Nile,  Nive,  Orthes, 
Toulouse,  and  Peninsula." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

AEENAKIS ST.    FRANCIS    INDIANS RALE ROUBAUD — 

CAPTAIN  ROBERT  ROGERS 

IX  a  letter  written  by  Father  Loyard,  a  Jesuit  priest, 
in  1722,  he  says: 

"  Of  all  the  savages  of  New  France  those  who  have 
rendered,  and  are  in  condition  to  render  us  the  great- 
est services,  are  the  Abenaquis.  This  nation  is  com- 
posed of  five  villages,  which  in  all  make  five  hundred 
men  bearing  arms. 

"  Two  of  these  villages  are  situated  along  the  St. 
Lawrence  near  Three  Rivers,  one  below  the  town 
called  Becancour,  and  the  other  above  called  the  vil- 
lage of  St.  Francis.  The  three  other  villages  are  in 
the  region  of  Acadia  [INIaine]  and  are  called  after 
the  Abenakis  name  of  the  river  on  which  they  are 
situated,  the  Kenebec,  Penobskot,  and  St.  John." 

This  was  thought  to  be  very  important,  as  by  pad- 
dling up  or  down  the  rivers  upon  which  the  five  vil- 
lages are  situated,  thej''  could  reach  the  river  St. 
Lawrence,  or  penetrate  into  the  country  of  their 
English  enemies. 

The  Abenakis  were  the  neighbors  of  the  Acadians 
at  Grand  Pre,  the  home  of  Longfellow's  Evangeline. 

From  their  homes  on  the  rivers  of  INIaine,  they  laid 

1 60 


170  St.  Francis  Indians 

waste  the  New  England  villages,  committed  atrocious 
murders,  and  returned  home  with  many  scalps.  They 
were  the  first  to  come  under  the  control  of  the  French 
priests,  first  the  Recollets,  and  afterwards  the  Jesuits. 
But  it  was  the  Jesuits  Biard  and  IMasse  who  first 
established  among  them  the  new  French  colony  at 
Mt.  Desert  Island,  as  early  as  1613,  which  settlement 
was  soon  destroyed  by  the  Virginian  Argall. 

The  mission  on  the  Kennebec,  afterwards  called 
Norridgewock,  under  Father  Sebastian  Rale,  was 
verj^  successful,  and  under  the  leadership  of  this  Jesuit 
priest  inflicted  great  and  gruesome  damage  to  the 
young  New  England  settlements  until,  in  1724,  the 
settlers  arose  in  their  might,  destroyed  the  village, 
burnt  their  church,  and  killed  Rale  and  many  of  the 
Abenakis. 

Somewhat  later  the  French  withdrew  the  mission 
and  Indians  to  St.  Francis  on  the  St.  Lawrence  where 
they  were  known,  in  the  later  wars,  as  the  St.  Francis 
Indians. 

You  will  remember  the  story  of  Whittier's  Mogg 
Megone,  and  the  killing  of  Father  Sebastian  Rale 
(sometimes  spelled  Rasles).     Parkman  says: 

"  When  the  British  returned  from  driving  the  fugi- 
tives into  the  river,  they  found  the  Jesuit  Rale  in  one 
of  the  houses,  firing  upon  some  of  their  comrades 
who  had  not  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  In- 
dians. He  presently  wounded  one  of  them,  where- 
upon Lieutenant  Benjamin  Jaques  burst  open  the 
door  of  the  house,  and,  as  he  declared,  found  the  priest 
loading  his  gun  for  another  shot.     The  Lieutenant 


X    ~i     ^ 


B  t' 

0 

~    77 

t 

^    '^ 

i  5 " 

*  - 

-a  i 

1-^ 

The  Killing  of  Rale  171 

called  on  him  to  surrender,  when  Rale  replied  that '  he 
would  neither  give  quarter  nor  take  it,'  upon  which 
Jaques  shot  him  through  the  head." 

During  the  campaigns  of  1755-63  the  Praying  In- 
dians of  St.  Francis  were  exceedingly  active,  not  only 
in  the  massacre  of  lone  settlers,  but  in  open  warfare. 
They  were  with  Dieskau  at  Lake  George,  Montcalm 
at  Fort  William  Henry,  and  in  scouting  parties  con- 
nected with  the  operations  around  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point,  in  1758-59. 

They  had  become  the  scourge  of  the  New  England 
borders,  where  thej^  surprised  and  burned  farmhouses 
and  small  hamlets,  killed  men,  women,  and  children 
without  distinction,  carried  others  prisoners  to  their 
village,  subjected  them  to  the  torture  of  "  running 
the  gauntlet,"  and  compelled  them  to  witness  dances 
around  the  scalps  of  their  relatives  and  friends. 

My  first  introduction  to  Lake  George  was  on  a 
beautiful  day  in  July  when  its  environment  was  all 
peace  and  beauty,  its  crystal  waters  blue  and  pellucid 
and  sparkling  like  diamonds  under  the  midsummer 
sun ;  not  a  suggestion  of  strife  of  men  in  battle  array, 
not  a  sound  to  remind  one  of  the  stealthy  Indian  scout 
or  barbarous  blood-curdling  yell;  and  I  wondered  if 
the  mountain  peaks  were  not,  even  yet,  throwing  back 
to  each  other  the  thrilling  war-whoops,  in  echoes  faint 
as  a  zephyr,  as  though  from  their  majestic  height  they 
still  beheld  the  birchen  canoe,  the  naked  flesh  of  the 
savage,  and  the  scarlet  coats  of  civilization,  battling 
for  supremacy. 


172 


Major  Robert  Rogers 


In  all  of  this  quietude  I  seemed,  in  reverie,  to  see 
bands  of  rangers  clothed  in  fringed  buckskin  of  the 
color  of  sere  autumn  leaves,  darting  here  and  there 
with  marvellous  celerity,  in  boats  and  on  the  trail,  al- 
ways alert,  fearlessly  searching  for  danger,  with  Major 
Robert  Rogers  leading  them.  In  reading  his  journal, 
one  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  during  the  period 
of  the  last  French  and  Indian  War  (1755-1760), 
his  time  was  wholly  spent  between  Fort  Edward  and 
Crown  Point  Fortress  on  Lake  Champlain,  sometimes 
alone  in  a  birchen  canoe,  and  again  in  whale-boat 
and  bateaux  with  companions  in  battle  array,  or 
treading  noiselessly  through  the  forests  on  either  side 
of  the  lake.  We  hear  of  the  rangers  in  the  winter  on 
snow-shoes,  toiling  noiselessly  over  the  untrodden 
snow,  or  darting  along  on  skates  over  the  smooth 
ice,  always  armed,  always  alert  for  the  dusky  warriors. 

I  try  to  imagine  what  kind  of  men  Rogers  and  his 
followers  were.  That  they  were  hardy  and  brave 
and  well  versed  in  woodcraft,  we  know  because  we 
have  been  told.  At  this  period  the  northern  country 
was  practically  a  wilderness,  with  half-cleared  farms 
scattered  here  and  there,  with  log  huts  and  barns  built 
to  repel  incursions  of  Indians  from  Canada.  At  the 
period  of  which  I  am  writing,  the  very  children  were 
familiar  with  the  shedding  of  blood,  and  the  tales  that 
were  told  and  retold  at  night  by  the  flickering  blaze 
of  huge  logs  in  the  spacious  fireplaces  were  tales 
of  massacre,  scalpings,  and  mutilations.  In  such  en- 
vironment the  backwoodsmen  were  trained  from  youth 
for  retaliation  and  reprisal,  holding  the  value  of  hu- 


Van  Wormer's  Conversion  173 

man  life  lightly  and  the  killing  of  an  Indian  an  act 
of  justice. 

We  have  no  body  of  men  with  like  morals  or  con- 
ception of  right  and  wrong  in  our  country  now,  but 
I  can  imagine  the  lumbermen  of  the  north  described 
by  Stewart  Edward  White,  in  his  Blazed  Trail,  would 
compare  favorably  with  the  Rogers  rangers  of 
1755-60. 

A  story  is  told  by  Dr.  Holden,  of  the  man  for 
whom  Van  Wormer's  Bay  on  Lake  George  was 
named,  which  illustrates  my  meaning. 

Jacob  Van  Wormer  after  the  Revolutionary  War 
experienced  religion,  as  it  is  called,  and  at  a  meeting 
where  public  confession  was  asked  for  from  the  con- 
verts he  acknowledged  to  having  killed  three  more 
men  than  circumstances  would  justify.  He  is  said 
to  have  been  a  stalwart,  symmetrical  man  of  gigantic 
proportions.  Before  going  into  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill  he  made  himself  a  long-handled  tomahawk,  and 
to  quote  his  own  confession :  "  I  struck  to  der  right, 
und  I  struck  to  der  left,  und  I  killed  my  twenties, 
und  dat  vas  all  right ;  put  von  poor  fellow  drew  down 
his  arms,  un  cried  for  gwarter;  but  I  was  so  mat  mit 
fighten'  that  I  kills  him,  und  dat  was  murder.  Und 
after  dat  I  kills  a  man  down  der  Hudson  River,  und 
dat  vas  murder;  und  ven  Burgoyne  mit  his  army 
crossed  der  river  at  Fort  JNIiller,  I  shoots  a  Britisher 
dat  vas  in  shwimmin  in  der  river;  und  dat  vas  mur- 
der; und  dat  vas  all  dat  I  murdered, — der  rest  vos 
killed  in  fair  fight." 

It  is  said  that  after  the  battle  at  Ticonderoga  of 


174  Robert  Rogers 

July  8,  1758,  Rogers  and  some  of  the  rangers  went 
back  to  bring  off  some  prisoners  who  were  w^ounded, 
but  finding  them  unable  to  walk,  he  killed  them  all. 
Perhaps  it  w-as  merciful,  in  a  way,  but  it  was  not 
humane. 

However,  the  following  extract  from  Johnson's 
MSS.  shows  Sir  William  Johnson's  opinion  of  Cap- 
tain Rogers : 

"  Camp  at  Lake  George,  Oct.  29,  1755. 

"The  accounts  brought  by  Captain  Rogers  concern- 
ing the  enemy  at  Ticonderoga,  differing  somewhat 
from  that  obtained  through  other  sources,  led  Sir 
William  Johnson,  in  wTiting  to  Sir  Charles  Hardy,  to 
explain  the  situation,  and  in  referring  to  Rogers's 
account,  speak  of  him  '  as  one  whose  braverj'  and 
sagacity  stand  very  clear  in  my  opinion,  and  of  all 
who  knew  him.  Though  his  regiment  is  gone,  he 
remains  here  a  volunteer,  and  is  the  most  active  man 
in  our  army.'  " 

The  following  order  from  General  Johnson  to  Cap- 
tain Rogers  will  give  an  idea  of  the  work  the  rangers 
w'ere  expected  to  do: 

They  were  to  proceed  from  Albany  in  four  whale- 
boats  to  Lake  George ;  and,  "  from  time  to  time, 
to  use  your  best  endeavors  to  distress  the  French 
and  their  allies  (Indians)  by  sacking,  burning,  and 
destroying  their  houses,  barns,  barracks,  canoes, 
bateaux,  etc.,  and  by  killing  their  cattle  of  every  kind; 
and  at  all  times  to  endeavor  to  waylay,  attack,  and 
destroy  their  convoys  of  provisions  by  land  and  water, 
in  any  part  of  the  country  where  you  can  find  them." 


Robert  Rog^ers  175 


Extract  from  order  to  jNIajor  Rogers  from  General 
Amherst : 

"  Remember  the  barbarities  that  have  been  com- 
mitted by  the  enemy's  Indian  scoundrels  on  every 
occasion  where  they  have  an  opportunity  of  showing 
their  infamous  cruelties  on  the  King's  subjects,  which 
they  have  done  without  mercy.  Take  your  revenge, 
but  don't  forget  that  those  villains  have  dastardly 
and  promiscuously  murdered  the  women  and  children 
of  all  ages ;  it  is  my  orders  that  no  women  or  children 
are  killed  or  hurt. 

"  Yours, 

"  General  Jeff.  Amherst." 

A  foot-note  by  Rogers  says: 

"  That  this  expedition  might  be  carried  on  with 
the  utmost  secrecy — it  was  put  into  public  orders  that 
I  was  to  march  a  different  way,  at  the  same  time 
I  had  private  instructions  to  proceed  directly  to 
St.  Francis."  Dated,  Crown  Point,  September  13, 
1759. 

Rogers  and  his  men  set  out  in  whale-boats  up  the 
Hudson  and  Lake  George,  and  on  the  tenth  day  after 
leaving  Albany,  reached  the  north  end  of  Lake 
Champlain,  where  he  hid  his  boats,  leaving  them  in 
charge  of  two  friendly  Indians,  who  were  instructed 
to  inform  Rogers  if  they  were  discovered  by  the 
enemy.  On  the  second  day  the  Indians  overtook  him 
with  the  information  that  a  party  of  four  hundred 
French  had  found  the  boats,  and  that  half  of  that 
number  were  on  his  track  in  hot  pursuit.  Much  of 
the  way  to  the  Indian  town  was  through  dense  spruce 


176     Destruction  of  the  St.  Francis  Indians 

swamps  and  tangled  forest  lands,  but  after  arduous 
toil  and  many  sleepless  nights,  they  emerged  from 
the  forests  onto  the  St.  Lawrence  within  fifteen  miles 
of  the  village  of  St.  Francis.  Still  continuing  on 
until  about  three  miles  from  the  town,  he  left  his 
hundred  and  forty  men  to  rest  for  a  time,  and 
with  two  companions  went  to  reconnoitre  the  place. 
Rogers,  disguised  in  Indian  dress,  entered  the  vil- 
lage alone  and  watched  the  Indians  in  full  enjoyment 
of  a  savage  dance.  Returning  to  his  command  about 
two  o'clock,  he  formed  his  men  in  a  circle  and  at 
three  o'clock  burst  upon  the  unconscious  villagers. 
Many  warriors  were  absent,  some  were  killed  on  their 
couches  asleep,  others  were  shot  down  trying  to 
escape. 

Rogers  reports: 

"  About  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  affair 
was  completely  over,  in  which  time  we  killed  at  least 
two  hundred  Indians  and  captured  twenty  of  their 
women,  fifteen  of  whom  I  let  go.  I  also  released 
five  English  prisoners. 

"  A  little  after  sunrise  I  set  fire  to  all  of  their 
houses  except  three  which  were  filled  with  corn.  The 
fire  consumed  many  of  the  Indians  who  had  hid  them- 
selves in  the  cellars  and  lofts  of  their  houses.  Six 
of  our  men  were  slightly  wounded  and  one  Stock- 
bridge  Indian  killed.  English  scalps  by  hundreds 
were  hanging  from  poles  in  front  of  their  houses 
(some  say  from  six  to  seven  hundred) .  Their  church 
was  also  destroyed  with  all  of  its  glittering  para- 
phernalia.     A    large    silver    image,    two    hundred 


Destruction  of  the  St.  Francis  Indians      177 

guineas  in  money,  and  a  large  amount  of  booty 
carried  away." 

Learning  from  the  prisoners  that  two  bodies  of 
French  and  Indians  w^ere  in  the  vicinity,  one  of  three 
hundred  and  the  other  two  hundred  and  fifteen,  they 
lost  no  time  in  plunging  into  the  wilderness  south- 
ward, in  the  direction  of  Lake  Memphremagog  and 
the  Connecticut  River.  After  untold  hardships  from 
fatigue,  hunger,  and  the  killing  and  capture  of  fifty 
of  the  rangers  by  pursuing  bands  of  Indians,  they  at 
last  reached  Charlestown,  the  first  English  settlement ; 
the  expedition  having  been  practically  destroyed. 

In  the  winter  of  1759-60,  and  in  the  spring  also, 
Rogers  went  to  Canada  with  General  Amherst,  and 
after  the  capitulation  was  sent  to  Detroit  and  other 
posts  on  the  lakes,  to  receive  their  surrender  to  the 
English. 

Although  usually  successful  in  his  scouting  ex- 
peditions, and  of  great  value  to  the  English  army, 
there  was  one  expedition  of  Captain  Rogers  which 
ended  in  disastrous  defeat,  not  on  account  of  lack 
of  skill  and  bravery  or  courage  (for  the  words  are 
not  always  synonj^mous)  but  from  the  overwhelming 
number  of  the  enemy. 

Let  me  give  it  to  you  as  recorded  by  Doctor 
Holden : 

"  On  the  10th  of  March,  1758,  by  the  order  of 
Colonel  Haviland,  then  in  command  at  Fort  Edward, 
Captain  Rogers,  accompanied  with  thirteen  officers, 
part  of  whom  were  volunteers  from  the  regular 
army,    with    one    hundred    and    sixty-two    privates. 


1 78  Roger's  Escapes 

proceeded  in  the  direction  of  Ticonderoga  on  a  re- 
connoitring expedition.  The  enemy  who,  unfortu- 
nately, had  been  advised  of  this  expedition,  which  they 
had  been  led  to  believe  consisted  of  four  hundred  men, 
took  measures  to  ambush  and  cut  off  their  retreat." 

The  second  night's  encampment  was  on  the  east 
side  of  Lake  George,  near  the  Narrows.  During 
their  progress  down  the  lake,  their  movements  were 
narrowly  watched  b}^  a  body  of  the  enemy  seven  hun- 
dred strong,  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  in  order 
to  intercept  and  cut  off  their  retreat.  "  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  thirteenth  a  council  of  officers  of  the 
rangers  determined  that  the  best  course  was  to 
proceed  by  land  upon  snow-shoes,  lest  the  enemy 
should  discover  the  party  on  the  lake.  Accordingly 
the  march  was  continued  on  the  west  shore,  an  army 
on  snow-shoes,  along  the  back  of  the  mountain  which 
overlooked  the  French  advance  guard,  and  the  party 
halted  two  miles  west  of  them,  when  they  refreshed 
themselves  until  three  o'clock."  A  mile  and  a  half 
farther  on,  the  advance  guard  of  about  one  hundred 
Indians  was  encountered  and  driven  back  on  the  main 
body,  under  the  command  of  Sieur  de  la  Durantaye, 
when  the  rangers,  being  completely  outflanked  and 
greatly  outnumbered,  were  routed  and  defeated  with 
great  slaughter,  the  French  account  claiming  "  that 
they  brought  back  one  hundred  and  forty-six  scalps 
and  retained  onlj^  three  prisoners  to  furnish  '  living 
letters  to  their  father.'  The  French  loss  was  reported 
at  twenty-seven  killed  and  wounded.  Rogers's  force, 
dispersed  and  scattered  through  the  woods,  sought 


Rogers's  Rock  179 

safety  in  flight.  As  snow-shoes  constituted  a  part  of 
the  rangers'  outfit,  they  became  an  important  agency 
in  the  escape  of  the  survivors.  It  is  the  memorable 
events  connected  with  this  affair  that  has  made 
Rogers's  Rock  an  object  of  interest  to  tourists,  and  a 
landmark  of  history.  The  fugitives  were  met  near 
the  Narrows,  on  their  retreat,  by  Captain  John  Stark 
with  timely  reinforcements  and  a  supply  of  blankets, 
sleighs,  and  provisions. 

One  of  the  most  picturesque  and  interesting  of  the 
many  delightful  spots  on  Lake  George  is  the  highland 
near  the  end  of  the  lake.  For  a  number  of  miles  be- 
fore reaching  this  spot,  the  mountains  and  hills  have 
receded  from  the  shore,  giving  a  glimpse  of  fair  fields 
and  woods,  but  as  we  draw  near  the  end  of  the  lake. 
Bald  Mountain  or  Rogers's  Rock  on  the  west  shore 
rears  its  ponderous  bulk  of  granite  to  an  almost  per- 
pendicular height  of  eleven  hundred  feet,  being 
matched  by  a  similar  bulk  and  height  on  the  east  a 
half-mile  away.  Here,  on  the  west  side,  we  see  the 
famous  Rogers's  Slide,  entirely  destitute  of  verdure. 

We  do  not  need  to  be  told — we  know  it,  for  have 
we  not  seen  its  picture,  and  have  we  not  heard  its 
story  a  hundred  times? — how  Captain  Rogers  and 
his  small  army  on  snow-shoes  were  defeated  by  a 
large  body  of  Indians  and  French;  how  the  small 
remnant  was  scattered  through  the  forests  at  the  top 
of  the  mountain;  how  a  party  of  Indians  were  track- 
ing the  marks  of  the  snow-shoes  of  the  fugitives,  and 
how  Rogers  became  aware  that  he  was  likely  to  be 
driven  over  the  precipice ;  how  he  made  his  way  direct 


i8o  Rogers's  Slide 

to  the  brink,  threw  his  pack  and  accoutrements  down 
the  slide  to  the  lake;  and  how  he  turned  his  snow- 
shoes  around  and,  after  stealing  along  the  edge  of 
the  hill,  made  his  way  down  to  the  lake,  picked  up 
his  pack,  changed  his  snow-shoes,  and  sped  south- 
ward to  the  Narrows,  where  he  was  met  by  Captain 
Stark  with  reinforcements  and  provisions. 

Then  we  are  told  that  the  Indians  followed  Rogers's 
tracks  to  the  brink,  where,  seemingly,  were  two  tracks 
to  the  precipice;  they  concluded  that  two  white  men 
had  slid  down  to  the  ice  below ;  and  while  gazing  they 
saw,  a  mile  away,  the  form  of  Rogers;  but  consider- 
ing him  under  the  special  protection  of  the  Great 
Spirit  they  made  no  further  pursuit. 

In  1766  Rogers  was  appointed  by  the  British  Gov- 
ernment commandant  of  the  post  of  Michilimackinac. 

Sir  William  Johnson  writes  to  General  Gage  as 
follows : 

"  He  [Major  Rogers]  was  a  soldier  of  my  army 
in  1755,  and  as  we  were  in  great  want  of  active  men 
at  that  time,  his  readiness  recommended  him  so  far 
that  I  made  him  an  officer,  and  got  him  continued 
in  the  Ranging  service,  where  he  soon  became  puffed 
up  with  pride  and  folly,  from  the  extravagant  enco- 
miums and  notices  of  some  of  the  provinces.  This 
spoiled  a  good  Ranger,  for  he  was  fit  for  nothing 
else,  neither  has  nature  calculated  him  for  a  large 
command. 

"  He  has  neither  understanding  or  principles.  I 
am  astonished  that  the  Government  should  have 
thought  of  such  an  employment  for  him,  but  since  it 


Robert  Rogers  i8i 

is  so,  I  am  of  the  opinion  he  should  be  tied  up  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  prevent  him  from  doing  mischief." 

Subsequent  events  proved  General  Sir  William 
Johnson's  opinion  of  the  man  to  be  correct.  Let  me 
sketch  briefly  a  cj^clopedic  account  of  his  life  after 
the  capitulation. 

Robert  Rogers  was  born  in  Dunbarton,  New 
Hampshire,  in  1727.  Serious  charges  of  mismanage- 
ment were  brought  against  him  while  in  command 
at  jNIichilimackinac  and  he  was  seized  and  sent  in  irons 
to  Montreal,  to  be  tried  on  a  charge  of  a  design  to 
plunder  the  fort  and  join  the  French;  was  acquitted, 
and  went  to  England;  was  presented  to  the  King, 
and  soon  after  was  imprisoned  for  debt.  Return- 
ing to  America  during  the  Revolution,  he  raised  a 
company  of  Tories  known  as  the  "  Queen's  Own 
Rangers,"  a  bod}"  of  four  hundred  men,  for  local  active 
service.  However,  they  met  with  disastrous  defeat 
from  a  body  of  American  troops;  eighty  men  were 
killed  or  captured,  but  Rogers  escaped.  Shortly 
after.  Lieutenant  Simcoe  succeeded  to  the  command 
of  the  Queen's  Own,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  Rogers's 
military  career.     He  died  in  England,  1800. 

"Virtuous  and  vicious  everv  man  must  be, 
Few  in  the  extreme  but  all  in  a  degree," 


but 


"  There  is  so  much  good  in  the  worst  of  us 
And  there  is  so  much  bad  in  the  best  of  us 
That  it  won't  do  for  any  of  us 
To  talk  about  the  rest  of  us." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

MAJOR-GENER.iL  ISR.iEL   PUTNAM 

GENERAL  ISRAEL  PUTNAM,  who  through 
a  regular  gradation  of  promotion  became  sen- 
ior major-general  of  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
and  next  in  rank  to  General  Washington,  was  born 
at  Salem  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  on  the 
17th  day  of  January,  1718. 

His  father,  Captain  Joseph  Putnam,  was  the  son 
of  Mr.  John  Putnam,  who  with  two  brothers  came 
from  the  south  of  England,  and  was  among  the 
first  settlers  of  Salem.  A  perusal  of  Humphrey's 
Life  of  General  Israel  Putnam,  published  in  1788,  and 
the  very  excellent  work  on  the  same  theme  by  William 
Farrand  Livingston  (1905)  reveals  the  fact  that  the 
life  of  that  wonderful  man  cannot  be  told  in  the  few 
pages  allotted  to  the  subject  in  this  book.  But  it  is 
quite  evident  that  many  of  the  stirring  scenes  of  his 
active  life  were  enacted  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake 
George-Champlain,  in  his  early  manhood,  and  there- 
fore deserve  special  mention. 

His  biographers  record  the  fact  that  his  early 
education  did  not  exceed  that  of  the  farmers'  boys 
in  the  vicinity  of  Salem  and  that  on  account  of  pov- 
erty and  danger  he  did  not  have  all  of  the  advantages 

of  his  comrades. 

182 


Major-General  Israel  Putnam  183 

Reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic  comprised  the  ex- 
tent of  his  education  at  school,  and  his  letters  would 
indicate  that  he  did  not  excel  in  orthography  or 
penmanship. 

But  his  real  education  was  begun  and  acquired  in 
the  stirring  scenes  of  the  French  and  Indian  wars, 
and  the  War  of  Re^^olution,  in  which,  as  Major- 
General,  he  held  a  position  next  in  rank  to  that  of 
the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  American  Army, 
General  Washington. 

We  are  first  introduced  to  him  in  his  boyhood  days 
as  a  fighter  in  Boston,  where  a  city  boy  of  twice  his 
size  insulted  young  Putnam  by  calling  him  a  "  coun- 
try-buck "  and  laughing  at  his  rusticity. 

After  enduring  the  sarcasms  until  his  patience  was 
exhausted,  he  challenged  the  city  boy,  and  gave  him  a; 
good  thrashing  to  the  great  diversion  of  the  spectators. 

Before  he  attained  his  twenty-first  year,  he  married 
JNIiss  Hannah  Pope.  The  young  husband  took  his 
eighteen-year-old  wife  to  his  farm  and  the  house  he 
had  recently  built,  and  there  began  housekeeping. 

This  sketch  would  not  be  complete  if  I  did  not 
include  in  it  the  story  of  the  "  Wolf's  Den." 

Putnam's  early  life  was  not  without  privation  and 
disasters.  He  had  been  living  on  his  farm  about 
two  years,  suffering  occasionally  drought  in  summer, 
loss  of  cattle  in  winter,  and  the  desolation  of  his 
sheep-fold  by  wolves.  One  night  he  lost  seventy 
sheep  and  goats,  and  found  many  lambs  and  kids 
wounded.  The  havoc  was  committed  by  a  she- 
wolf  and  her  annual  whelps,  who  had,  for  several 


184  Major-General  Israel  Putnam 

years,  infested  the  vicinity.  The  hunters  managed 
to  kill  the  whelps,  but  the  she-wolf  was  a  wily  old 
beast,  and,  although  frequently  seen  and  pursued, 
generally  fled  into  the  western  forest,  and  escaped 
for  the  season  only  to  return  the  following  winter 
with  another  litter  of  whelps.  She  seemed  to  have 
as  many  lives  as  a  "  loup-garou,"  who  could  not  be 
killed,  except  by  an  arrow  dipped  in  "  holy  water." 

This  wolf  at  length  became  such  an  intolerable 
nuisance  that  a  combination  of  five  Pomfret  farmers 
was  formed,  to  hunt  continuously  in  pairs,  until  the 
wolf  was  destroyed.  It  was  knoA^nn  that  she  had  lost 
some  of  the  toes  of  one  foot  in  a  trap. 

The  track  followed  by  Putnam  and  his  companion 
led  to  the  Connecticut  River,  where  it  turned  back 
in  a  direct  course  to  Pomfret. 

A  light  snow  had  fallen,  and  the  course  of  the 
animal  was  easily  traced  because  the  track  showed 
one  foot  shorter  than  the  others.  This  was  proof 
that  the  animal  they  were  following  was  the  she-wolf 
which  had  eluded  them  so  long,  and  by  ten  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  the  bloodhounds  had  driven  her 
into  a  den,  about  three  miles  distant  from  the  house 
of  Mr.  Putnam. 

The  people  soon  collected  with  dogs,  guns,  straw, 
fire,  and  sulphur  to  attack  the  common  enemy.  With 
these  various  articles,  several  unsuccessful  efforts  were 
made  to  force  her  from  the  den.  (It  is  said  that 
John  Stark,  then  seventeen  years  old,  was  the  first 
one  to  locate  the  cavern.) 

A  whole  day  was  spent  by  Putnam  and  his  neigh- 


Wolf's  Den  185 

bors  in  attempting  to  dislodge  the  animal.  Dogs 
ventured  in,  but  they  hastily  returned  frightened  and 
wounded,  and  would  not  go  in  again. 

Wearied  by  such  fruitless  attempts  (which  brought 
the  time  to  ten  o'clock  at  night)  Mr.  Putnam  tried 
again  to  make  his  dogs  enter,  but  in  vain;  he  pro- 
posed to  his  negro  man  to  go  down  into  the  cavern  and 
shoot  the  wolf,  but  he  would  not  go.  It  was  then  that 
Putnam  declared  he  would  go  himself.  His  neigh- 
bors strongly  remonstrated,  but  he,  knowing  that  wild 
beasts  were  intimidated  by  fire,  prepared  a  torch  of 
birch-bark,  and,  having  divested  himself  of  his  coat  and 
waist-coat,  he  prepared  to  descend  into  the  cavern.  A 
long  rope  was  fastened  around  his  legs  that  he  might 
be  drawn  back  quickly,  if  circumstances  should  re- 
quire a  hurried  exit,  at  a  concerted  signal.  Thus 
prepared  he  entered  the  wolf's  den  head-first,  and 
with  the  blazing  torch  in  his  hand. 

The  aperture  of  the  den,  on  the  east  side  of  a 
very  high  ledge  of  rocks,  is  about  two  feet  square; 
from  thence  it  descends  obliquelj'^  about  fifteen 
feet,  then  running  horizontally  ten  feet  more  and 
again  changing  its  course,  it  ascends  gradually 
sixteen  feet  more  toward  the  termination  of  the 
cavern.  The  sides,  top,  and  bottom  are  of  smooth 
stone,  and  the  first  descent,  in  winter  covered  with 
ice,  is  exceedingly  slippery.  At  no  place  is  the 
den  high  enough  for  a  man  to  stand  erect,  nor  in 
any  part  more  than  three  feet  wide. 

Cautiously  groping  down  the  first  incline,  with 
his  torch  lighting  up  only  a  small  circle  in  front  of 


i86  Major-General  Israel  Putnam 

him,  he  peered  with  keen  eyes  into  the  impenetrable 
darkness  beyond.  But  not  an  object  could  he  see, 
.except  the  stone  walls  on  each  side,  and  not  a  sound 
could  he  hear  except  his  own  heavy  breathing. 

Slowly  he  worked  his  way  onward  on  his  hands  and 
knees,  until  he  reached  the  ascent,  anxious  yet  fear- 
ful to  discover  the  ferocious  beast.  At  last  he  saw 
the  eyes  of  the  wolf,  glaring  red  in  the  torch  light, 
as  she  crouched  at  the  extreme  end  of  the  cavern, 
uttering  a  fearful  howl  full  of  menace,  as  she  gnashed 
her  teeth  at  the  blazing  torch.  Startled  at  the  sight 
of  the  threatening  beast,  in  such  close  proximity,  he 
kicked  the  rope  as  signal  for  pulling  him  out. 

The  people  at  the  mouth  of  the  den  hearing  the 
growling  of  the  wolf,  and  thinking  that  their  friend 
was  being  attacked,  drew  him  forth  with  such  celer- 
ity, that  his  shirt  was  stripped  over  his  head  and  his 
skin  severely  scratched. 

Adjusting  his  clothes  and  loading  his  gun  with 
nine  buck-shot,  and  holding  the  torch  in  one  hand 
and  the  musket  in  the  other,  he  descended  again  into 
the  cavern.  When  he  drew  nearer  than  before,  he 
found  the  beast  fiercer  and  more  threatening  than 
ever,  snapping  her  teeth,  and  crouching  ready  to 
spring  on  the  daring  hunter.  At  this  moment 
Putnam  levelled  his  gun  and  fired  at  her  head. 

Stunned  by  the  noise  of  the  explosion,  and  suf- 
focated with  the  dense  smoke,  he  found  himself  im- 
mediately drawn  from  the  cave.  Having  refreshed 
himself  and  permitted  the  smoke  to  disappear  out  of 
the  den,  he  went  down  the  third  time.     Once  more 


Prosperity  187 

he  came  in  sight  of  the  wolf,  who  appeared  very  pas- 
sive, and  when,  upon  applying  the  torch  to  her  nose, 
he  discovered  that  she  was  dead,  he  took  hold  of  her 
by  the  ears,  and  again  kicking  the  rope  was  exultingly 
drawn  from  the  cave  with  the  w^olf.  It  was  a  jolly 
party  of  neighbors  that  followed  the  slain  wolf  to 
Putnam's  home  by  the  light  of  torches,  "  where  a 
midnight  wolf  jubilee  was  held,"  whatever  that  may 
mean. 

At  this  period  Putnam  was  about  twenty-five  years 
old. 

Humphrey  records: 

"  Prosperity,  at  length,  began  to  attend  the  agri- 
cultural affairs  of  Israel  Putnam.  He  was  acknow- 
ledged to  be  a  skilful  and  able  manager. 

"  His  fields  were  mostly  enclosed  with  stone  walls. 
His  crops  commonly  succeeded,  because  the  land  was 
well  tilled  and  fertilized.  His  pastures  and  meadows 
became  luxuriant,  his  cattle  of  the  best  breed  and  in 
good  order,  his  garden  and  fruit  trees  prolific. 

"  The  wolf  episode  won  for  him  at  once  a  local 
reputation  for  bravery,  and  the  sobriquet  of  '  Old 
Wolf  Putnam '  during  his  military  career." 

At  the  beginning  of  the  last  French  and  Indian 
War  (1755)  Putnam  was  thirty-seven  years  old,  when 
he  became  a  hunter  of  men  instead  of  a  hunter  of 
wolves,  and  at  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  became, 
very  early,  intimately  connected  with  Captain  Robert 
Rogers,  and  the  Rogers's  rangers,  which  seems  to 
have  been  composed  of  Indian-fighters  and  Indian- 
haters,   and  became  invaluable  to  the  British  from 


1 88  Major-General  Israel  Putnam 

the  first  expedition  of  General  Sir  William  John- 
son, 1755.  Putnam  did  yeoman's  service  during  the 
battle  of  Lake  George,  and  the  subsequent  engage- 
ments in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Ticonderoga. 

After  the  disastrous  attempt  to  capture  the  fort 
in  July,  1758,  the  rangers  were  kept  very  active 
in  every  direction,  for  General  Abercrombie  was  con- 
tinually in  fear  of  a  descent  upon  him  by  Montcalm. 
Two  or  three  of  his  convoys  of  supplies  having  been 
cut  off  by  French  scouting  parties,  he  sent  out 
Majors  Rogers  and  Putnam  to  intercept  them. 

Apprised  of  this  movement,  Montcalm  sent  Mo- 
lang,  an  officer  well  versed  in  the  wiles  of  border- 
warfare,  with  five  hundred  men  to  waylay  the 
English  rangers.  (Some  writers  say  that  the  leader 
of  the  French  scouting  party  was  M.  Marin.) 
While  marching  through  the  forest  (August,  1758) 
in  three  divisions,  within  a  mile  of  Fort  Ann,  the 
left,  led  by  Putnam,  fell  into  an  ambuscade  of  In- 
dians, who  attacked  the  English  furiously,  making 
the  forest  echo  with  their  hideous  yells.  On  account 
of  the  dense  underbrush,  the  order  of  the  detach- 
ments, which  had  come  up  the  night  before,  was  some- 
what changed,  and  Putnam's  party  marched  in  front, 
that  of  Captain  Dalzell  in  the  centre,  and  Rogers's 
in  the  rear.  At  the  moment  of  moving,  JVIajor  Put- 
nam was  just  emerging  from  the  thicket  into  the 
common  forest,  when  the  attack  on  his  division  began. 
Surprised  but  undismayed,  Putnam  halted,  returned 
the  fire,  and  passed  the  word  for  the  other  divisions 
to  advance  for  his  support.   Dalzell  came.    The  action. 


Ambuscade  189 

though  widely  scattered  and  principally  between  man 
and  man,  soon  grew  general  and  intensely  fierce. 
Putnam's  biographer  laconically  says,  "  Rogers  came 
not  up,"  but,  as  he  declared  afterwards,  formed  a 
circular  file  between  Putnam's  party  and  Wood 
Creek,  to  prevent  their  being  attacked  in  the  rear  or 
enfiladed.  Successful  as  he  commonly  was,  Rogers's 
conduct  did  not  always  pass  without  unfavorable  im- 
putation. Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  it  was  a 
current  saying  in  camp  that  "  Rogers  always  sent, 
but  Putnam  led  his  men  to  action,"  j^et  in  justice 
it  ought  to  be  remarked  here,  that  the  latter  has  never 
been  known,  in  relating  the  story  of  that  day's  dis- 
aster, to  affix  any  stigma  to  the  conduct  of  Rogers. 

Major  Putnam,  perceiving  it  would  be  imprac- 
ticable to  cross  Wood  Creek,  determined  to  maintain 
his  ground.  Inspired  by  his  example,  the  officers  and 
men  fought  collectively  in  open  view,  and  sometimes 
individually  under  cover ;  taking  aim  behind  trees  and 
acting  independently  of  each  other.  Meanwhile  a 
large  and  powerful  Indian  chief  of  the  Praying  In- 
dians, from  the  mission  of  the  Sault  called  Caughna- 
waga,  had  sprung  upon  the  brave  leader  in  front. 
In  the  fierce  hand-to-hand  fight,  Putnam  pressed  the 
muzzle  of  his  gun  against  his  assailant's  breast,  but 
the  weapon  missed  fire.  With  a  loud  war-w^hoop,  the 
savage  sprang  forward  with  his  uplifted  hatchet,  com- 
pelling him  to  surrender,  and  having  disarmed  him, 
bound  him  fast  to  a  tree,  and  then  returned  and 
fought  on. 

Somewhat  dismayed  by  the  loss  of  their  leader,  the 


190  Major-General  Israel  Putnam 

rangers  gave  ground  for  a  short  distance,  but  en- 
couraged by  the  advance  of  Dalzell  they  returned  to 
the  fight  with  increasing  fury. 

The  shifting  of  the  battle  had  left  the  tree  to  which 
Putnam  was  tied  directly  between  the  fires  of  the 
combatants.  "  The  balls  flew  incessantly  from  either 
side,  many  struck  the  tree,  while  some  passed  through 
the  sleeves  and  skirts  of  his  coat."  At  the  moment 
when  the  battle  swerved  in  favor  of  the  enemy,  a 
young  savage  found  Putnam  bound  to  the  tree  and 
amused  himself  by  hurling  his  tomahawk  as  near  his 
head  as  possible,  without  touching  him,  the  weapon 
striking  the  tree  a  number  of  times  at  a  hair's  breadth 
from  his  head.  When  the  savage  had  ceased  his 
amusement,  a  French  bas-officer  perceiving  Putnam, 
came  up  to  him,  and  levelling  his  gun  within  a  foot 
of  his  breast  attempted  to  discharge  it;  it  missed  fire. 
He  then  repeatedly  pounded  Putnam's  ribs  with  the 
muzzle  and  finally  struck  him  a  cruel  blow  with  the 
stock  on  his  jaw,  and  left  him. 

The  rangers  finally  prevailed  and  drove  the  en- 
emy from  the  field,  leaving  about  ninety  dead  behind 
them.  As  they  fled,  the  Indian  who  had  made  Put- 
nam prisoner  untied  him  from  the  tree  and  conducted 
him  some  distance  from  the  place  of  battle,  stripped 
off  his  coat,  waist-coat,  stockings,  and  shoes,  pin- 
ioned him  strongly  and  loaded  him  with  packs.  Thus 
he  was  led  many  a  weary  mile  in  torment,  with  feet 
swollen  and  bleeding,  and  suffering  pain  from  the 
tightness  of  his  bonds. 

After  a  period  of  suffering  almost  insupportable, 


Prepared  for  Torture  191 

the  Indian  chief  who  had  captured  him  came  up,  and 
discovering  his  condition,  loosened  his  bonds  some- 
what, and  gave  him  a  pair  of  moccasins  for  his  weary, 
lacerated  feet.  The  chief  again  being  called  away. 
Major  Putnam  was  left  with  a  party  of  two  hundred 
Indians,  who  went  before  the  main  body  to  the  place 
of  a  proposed  encampment.  After  many  other  in- 
dignities, he  was  taken  into  the  depth  of  the  forest, 
stripped  of  his  garments,  bound  to  a  tree,  and  in  a 
small  circle  around  him,  dry  brush  w^as  piled  and 
set  on  fire.  All  of  these  preparations  for  torture  at 
the  stake  by  fire  were  accompanied  by  savage  dances, 
songs  of  dirge-like  character,  howls,  and  blood- 
curdling war-whoops.  A  sudden  shower  dampened 
the  fire,  giving  him  a  short  respite.  Again  the  fire 
was  kindled,  flickered,  and  blazed,  soon  completing 
the  circle  with  scorching  heat.  Putnam  shrunk  from 
the  blistering  flames,  his  movements  greeted  by  yells, 
dances,  and  gesticulations,  but  just  as  he  was  about 
to  give  up  all  hope  of  life,  a  French  officer  burst 
the  circle  of  frantic  Indians,  scattered  the  firebrands, 
and  unbound  the  victim.  It  was  Molang,  the  com- 
mander of  the  scouting  party,  who  treated  Putnam 
kindly  and  finally  sent  him  as  a  prisoner  of  war  to 
INIontreal.  He  was  afterwards  exchanged,  and  re- 
turned to  take  an  active  part  in  the  capture  of  IVIont- 
real,  Bradstreet's  western  expedition,  and  later  in  the 
Continental  Army. 

I  wish  that  I  might  follow  this  noted  man  through 
all  the  interesting  episodes  of  his  strenuous  life,  but 
as  the  scope  and  scheme  of  this  sketch  will  not  permit 


192  Major-General  Israel  Putnam 

me  to  wander  far  from  "  the  beautiful  lakes  of  the 
mountains  "  I  take  the  liberty  to  refer  you  to  his  life 
by  William  Farrand  Livingston,  a  lineal  descendant 
of  General  Israel  Putnam,  for  interesting  material. 

However,  there  is  one  episode,  although  intrusive, 
which  cannot  be  passed  over.  I  refer  to  the  "  famous 
ride  at  Horse-Neck." 

On  the  26th  of  February,  1779,  General  Putnam 
was  staying  at  the  old  Knapp  Tavern,  Greenwich, 
Connecticut,  when  he  was  surprised  by  General 
Try  on  with  about  fifteen  hundred  British  troops,  and 
narrowly  escaped  capture. 

The  story  relates  that  Putnam  had  escorted  a  pretty 
maiden,  Mistress  Bush  of  Cos  Cob,  to  a  dance  the 
night  before,  and,  as  he  did  not  return  to  the  tavern 
until  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  he  did  not  arise 
very  early.  He  was  shaving  in  the  morning,  his  face 
covered  with  lather,  when  an  American  officer  rode  in 
and  informed  the  General  of  the  approach  of  the 
British.  It  is  said  that  the  General  made  a  hurried 
departure  with  face  still  lathered,  mounted  his  horse, 
and  after  looking  after  the  safety  of  his  small  com- 
mand (a  party  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  soldiers),  he 
turned  his  horse  to  a  precipitous  road,  now  known  as 
Put's  Hill,  with  a  party  of  British  dragoons  in  hot 
pursuit,  bver  the  frozen  road  sped  the  General, 
w^hile  the  ring  of  the  steel-shod  hoofs  marked  the 
rapidly  decreasing  distance  from  his  pursuers. 

At  last  the  road  made  a  sharp  curve  around  a  steep 
declivity,  while  across  the  brow  of  the  hill  ran  a  stone 
w^all,  with  an  opening  to  a  rugged  path.     Leaving 


Putnam's  Ride  193 

the  main  road,  Putnam  dashed  straight  down  the  de- 
clivity of  the  precipice,  which  was  very  steep,  in  which 
a  number  of  steps  were  cut.  The  men  who  followed 
reined  up  astounded  at  the  courage  of  the  intrepid 
rider  and  his  sure-footed  steed.  Once  free  from  the 
dangerous  ledges,  his  horse  still  speeding,  the  General 
turned  and  waved  his  sword  to  his  pursuers,  while 
the  bullets  from  the  pistols  of  the  pursuing  dragoons 
pattered  on  every  side  and  put  a  fresh  bullet-hole  in 

his  hat. 
13 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  TICONDEROGA  BY  CAPTAIN 
ETHAN    ALLEN 

(Chapters  XV  and  XVI  are  taken  from  "The  Green 

Mountain  Boys,"  by  Judge  Daniel  Pierce 

Thompson. ) 

nnHE  morning  of  the  ninth  of  May,  1775,  broke 
*  brightly  upon  the  encampment  of  our  troops 
at  Castleton,  disclosing  to  view,  now  and  for  the  first 
time,  an  organized  band  of  about  three  hundred  as 
brave  and  hardy  men  as  ever  assembled  for  deeds 
of  daring  and  danger.  Of  this  number  more  than 
three  fourths  were  Green  Mountain  Boys.  The  re- 
mainder were  men  collected  from  the  nearest  parts 
of  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  and  led  on  by  sev- 
eral enterprising  militia  officers  of  these  colonies,  who 
had  actively  co-operated  in  getting  up  the  expedi- 
tion. A  council  had  been  held  the  night  previous,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  these  united  forces,  which 
had  been  dropping  in  irregularly  through  the  day 
and  a  greater  part  of  the  night,  and  also  for  making 
all  other  necessary  arrangements  to  march  for  their 
destination  on  the  following  morning.  At  this  coun- 
cil Ethan  Allen  had  been  unanimously  appointed  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  expedition.     Colonel  Eas- 


< 


Green  Mountain  Boys  195 

ton,  one  of  the  JNIassachusetts  officers,  was  placed 
second  in  command.  And  the  third  grade  was  as- 
signed to  Warrington;  while  Selden,  in  making  the 
subordinate  appointments,  was  raised  to  the  post  of 
captain  to  supply  the  place  left  vacant  by  the  pro- 
motion of  his  superior.  Even  our  friend  Pete  Jones, 
though  now  absent,  was  not  forgotten  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  honors,  but  named  to  take  charge  of  the 
scouts,  provided  he  joined  the  expedition.  All  these 
arrangements  having  been  made  the  night  before,  as 
just  stated,  the  troops  by  sunrise  had  breakfasted, 
and  were  now  under  arms,  and  undergoing  a  review 
preparatory  to  marching.  All  were  in  high  spirits, 
and  animated  at  the  thought  of  being  immediately 
led  to  the  important  object  of  their  enterprise.  Their 
gallant  leader,  now  dressed  and  equipped  in  a  manner 
appropriate  to  his  rank,  and  mounted  on  his  own 
noble  charger,  was  riding  proudly  along  their  im- 
posing front — now  pausing  to  give  some  directions 
to  an  officer,  now  to  inspect  the  equipments  of  a 
company,  and  now  backing  his  curvetting  steed  to 
take  a  view  of  the  whole;  while  his  towering  form 
seemed  to  dilate,  and  rise  still  higher  to  the  view,  his 
bosom  heave  w^ith  pride,  and  his  eyes  glisten  with 
delight,  as  they  ran  along  the  lines  of  his  stout  and 
broad-chested  Green  Mountain  Boys,  and  read  in 
their  hardy  features,  lit  up  with  enthusiasm  and  eager- 
ness for  action  in  a  cause  which  every  man  had  made 
his  own,  the  same  high  resolves,  the  same  burning 
desires  to  signahze  themselves  that  animated  his  own 
bosom. 


196  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

At  this  moment,  a  stranger,  who,  with  a  single 
attendant  in  the  capacity  of  a  servant,  had  but  a 
short  time  before  arrived,  came  on  the  grounds,  and 
took  a  conspicuous  stand  in  front  of  the  troops.  He 
was  of  about  the  middle  age,  stout,  well-made,  and 
handsomely  featured,  while  a  Roman  nose,  a  thin, 
curling  lip,  and  a  black  flashing  eye,  combining  to  give 
his  countenance  a  peculiarly  contemptuous  and  even 
sinister  expression,  and  a  reckless  air,  denoted  no  ordi- 
nary degree  of  self-esteem,  and  a  fiery  and  impetuous 
disposition.  He  was  richly  and  fashionably  dressed, 
and  wore  a  sword,  epaulet,  and  other  insignia  usually 
worn  by  field  officers  of  the  times. 

"  Captain  Blagden,"  said  Selden,  turning  to  a 
Connecticut  officer  near  him,  and  pointing  to  the 
stranger  just  described,  *'  can  you  inform  me  who 
that  proud  and  scornful-looking  fellow  yonder  may 
be?  He  belongs  not  to  us  of  the  Green  Mountains; 
nor  does  he  appear  to  have  any  connection  with  the 
troops  from  Massachusetts,  or  with  those  from  your 
own  colony;  and  yet  his  demeanor,  and  showy  mili- 
tary appendages,  would  lead  one  to  suppose  that  he 
came  here  to  take  command  of  the  whole  of  us." 

"  Well,  now  I  bethink  me,  sir,  I  remembel",  that 
the  day  I  left  home  a  townsman  of  mine,  who  had 
just  returned  from  New  Haven,  reported  that,  when 
the  news  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  arrived  at  that 
place.  Captain  Arnold,  who  is  the  commander  of  an 
independent  company  there,  started  with  several  other 
military  men,  post  haste  for  the  scene  of  action.  And 
as  he  is  said  to  be  a  good  officer,  having  been  a  soldier 


The  Tottering  Wall* of  Old  Fort   Anilici;- 
Lake  Clianiplain. 


("rown   rdiiil, 


Arnold  and  Allen  197 

in  the  army  (into  which  he  ran  away  and  enlisted 
in  his  youth),  I  should  not  be  surprised  to  learn  he 
had  received  a  commission  from  the  Massachusetts 
Committee  of  Safety.  And  further,  as  he  was  sta- 
tioned, while  a  boy-soldier,  at  Ticonderoga,  and 
knows,  doubtless,  considerable  of  its  situation,  I  will 
hazard  a  bottle  with  you.  Captain  Selden,  that  he 
has  craved,  and  obtained,  permission  of  that  com- 
mittee to  take  charge  of  the  troops  which  they 
probably  heard  were  collecting  for  this  expedition." 

"  Aha?  Colonel  Allen,  I  imagine,  will  have  a  word 
to  say  to  that  bargain.  It  would  fairly  break  his 
heart  to  be  deprived  of  the  chance  of  receiving  the 
first  charge  of  grape  or  canister  that  shall  salute  us 
from  the  wide-mouthed  war-dogs  of  Old  Ti.  And 
if  your  surmises  are  correct,  a  collision,  I  fear,  is 
unavoidable  unless  Mr.  Arnold  should,  as  I  think 
he  certainly  ought,  waive  his  pretentions  to  the 
command." 

"  A  collision  it  will  be  then;  for  Arnold,  it  is  said, 
was  never  yet  known  to  yield  to  anything,  when  his 
purposes  were  fixed.  A  more  reckless  dare-devil,  I 
suppose,  never  trod  the  footstool.  Why,  sir,  when 
we  were  but  boys,  I  have  known  him  spring  upon 
a  large  water-wheel  in  full  motion,  grasp  one  of  its 
arms,  with  his  head  towards  the  circumference,  and 
there  remain  till  he  had  been  dashed  through  the 
black-water  beneath,  during  forty  revolutions !  I  have 
known  him,  single  handed,  seize  and  overcome  a  mad 
ox,  which  had  broken  away  from,  and  nearly  killed, 
a  dozen   men.     One   or  more   duels   he   has   fought 


198  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

abroad;  while  scores  of  bullies  have  been  cudgelled 
and  conquered  by  him  about  home.  Indeed,  if  one 
half  that  is  told  of  him  is  true,  the  wild  bulls  of 
Bashan  had  not  a  spirit  more  untamable,  nor  scarcely 
more  bodily  strength  to  back  it. 

"  All  that  may  be,  sir,  but  those  who  know  Ethan 
Allen  will  laugh  at  the  very  idea  of  there  being  found 
a  man  in  New  England  who  can  outdo  him  in  feats 
of  either  strength  or  courage.  And  when  they  tell 
you,  as  they  truly  may,  that  they  have  seen  him  bite 
off  the  heads  of  board  nails  by  dozens, — seize  by  his 
teeth,  and  throw  over  his  head,  bags  containing  each 
a  bushel  of  salt,  as  fast  as  two  men  could  bring 
them  round  to  him, — grasp  two  opponents  who  had 
beset  him,  one  in  each  hand,  and  lifting  them  clear 
off  the  ground,  hold  them  out  at  arm's  length, 
and  beat  them  together  till  they  cried  for  mercy, 
— engage  alone  with  a  York  sheriff  and  his  posse 
of  six  common  men,  rout  the  whole,  and  leave 
them  sprawling  on  the  ground — you  wall  prob- 
ably allow  that  such  a  man  will  not  be  very  likely 
to  succumb  to  your  hero.  Let  this  Arnold  but  offer 
to  assume  the  command,  and,  unless  I  am  sadly  mis- 
taken, you  will  see  what  kind  of  stuff  our  old  Green 
^lountain  lion  is  made  of.  But  see!  the  fellow  is 
beckoning  the  officers  to  approach  him.  Let  us  move 
up  to  the  spot,  and  hear  what  he  has  to  offer  on 
the  occasion." 

Understanding  and  heeding  the  intimation  of  the 
stranger  officer,  who  was  indeed  no  other  than  Bene- 
dict  Arnold,  afterwards  so  infamously  conspicuous 


X 


Arnold  and  Allen  199 

in  the  annals  of  our  revolution,  most  of  the  officers, 
including  Allen,  who  had  dismounted  for  the  pur- 
pose, immediately  advanced  and  formed  an  irregular 
line  before  him. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he,  with  a  perfectly  assured  and 
confident  air,  after  w  aiting  till  all  had  approached 
and  assumed  a  listening  attitude,  "  I  am  personally 
unknown,  I  presume,  to  most,  or  all  of  you,  but  hav- 
ing been  clothed  with  the  proper  authority  and 
directed  to  proceed  to  this  place  for  the  purpose,  I 
have  the  honor  to  announce  myself  to  you  as  the  com- 
mander of  this  expedition ;  consequently  it  is  now  my 
duty  to  take  charge  of  these  troops." 

"  Sir? "  said  Allen,  taking  a  step  in  advance  of  his 
fellow-officers,  placing  his  arms  akimbo,  and  turning 
up  his  ear,  as  if  the  better  to  catch  the  words  of 
the  speaker,  whom  he  eyed  askance  with  a  look  of 
queerly  blended  doubt  and  scorn:  "  Sir?  did  I  hear 
aright?  Did  you  say  that  you  thought  it  your  duty 
to  take  charge  of  these  troops  ? " 

"  I  did,  sir,  and  still  so  consider  it,"  replied  Arnold, 
rather  restively. 

"  Do  you,  indeed,  sir?  "  rejoined  Allen,  with  a  look 
of  cool  derision.  "  Then  it  was  altogether  a  mistake 
of  mine  in  supposing  that  the  reverse  of  your  pro- 
position would  have  made  out  a  more  probable  case?  " 

"  I  know  not  what  you  mean,"  said  Arnold,  his 
voice  trembling  with  stifled  anger  at  the  biting  signifi- 
cance of  the  other's  remark.  "  You  may  learn,  how- 
ever, that  I  am  not  a  person  to  be  trifled  with,  sir." 

"  Well,  I  can't  pretend  to  say  what,  or  who  you 


200  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

are  not,"  replied  Allen,  waxing  warm,  and  giving 
token  of  a  direct  onset,  "  but  I  should  like  to  know 
who  the  devil  you  are,  that  come  here  from  another 
colony  to  take  the  control  of  men  who  now  own  alle- 
gience  to  no  power  short  of  that  of  the  God  of 
Heaven?  " 

"  INIy  name  is  Arnold,"  replied  the  other,  biting 
his  lips  in  suppressed  rage,  "  and  I  hold  a  commission 
of  Colonel,  with  the  orders  I  named,  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts Committee  of  Safety.  There!  examine  it 
for  yourselves!  "  he  added,  pulling  out  a  parchment, 
and  disdainfully  hurling  it  at  their  feet. 

The  roll  was  instantly  picked  up,  and  attentively 
examined  by  several  of  the  officers;  while  Arnold 
stood  aloof  in  contemptuous  silence,  scarcely  deign- 
ing to  bestow  a  glance  on  the  company  thus  engaged. 
It  indeed  proved,  as  he  had  stated,  a  colonel's  com- 
mission, from  the  source  above  mentioned,  enclosing 
another  document,  signed  by  the  same  committee, 
authorizing  Arnold  to  raise  troops  in  JMassachusetts, 
or  elsewhere,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred,  and 
march  them  for  the  reduction  of  Ticonderoga. 

"  Now,  sir,  where  is  your  commission?  I  should 
like  to  see  it  in  turn,"  said  Arnold,  addressing  Allen, 
and  advancing  with  an  air  of  triumph,  as  soon  as 
the  examination  of  his  credentials,  which  he  supposed 
must  silence  all  further  question  of  the  right  he  had 
assumed,  was  completed. 

"  My  commission?  "  promptly  replied  Allen,  by  no 
means  disturbed  by  this  unexpected  demand,  though 
in  fact  he  had  no  paper  commissions  to  show,  as  the 


Arnold  and  Allen  201 

council  appointing  him  had  not  deemed  such  an  in- 
strument essential;  "  where  is  my  commission,  do  you 
ask?  There,  sir!"  he  continued,  pointing  to  his 
troops,  who,  understanding  Arnold's  claim  to  take 
command  of  them,  already  began  to  exhibit  visible 
tokens  of  displeasure  at  the  thought  of  having  their 
idolized  leader  superseded  by  a  stranger,  "  there,  sir! 
there  it  is,  engraven  on  the  hearts  of  these  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty  Green  Mountain  Boys!  Trace  it  out 
there  for  yourself!  Read  it  in  their  eyes,  in  every 
lineament  of  their  countenances!  And  if  that  is  not 
enough  for  you,  then  ask  them  whether  Ethan  Allen, 
who  is  getting  gray  in  their  service,  is  to  be  thrust 
aside  for  a  commander  whom  they  have  never  before 
seen?" 

"  Never!  no,  never!  "  fiercely  burst  from  a  hundred 
lips  along  the  lines,  while  many  indignantly  threw 
down  their  arms,  and  all,  either  by  word,  look,  or 
gesture,  gave  unequivocal  indication  of  their  de- 
termination to  allow  no  man  to  usurp  the  place  of 
their  chosen  leader. 

The  countenance  of  Arnold,  with  all  his  assurance, 
instantly  fell  at  so  decided,  and,  to  him,  so  unex- 
pected a  manifestation  of  the  disposition  of  the 
troops,  and  he  bit  his  lips  in  vexation  and  mortified 
pride  at  his  defeat. 

At  this  crisis  of  the  affair,  Warrington,  fearing,  in 
common  with  the  other  officers,  that  the  altercation 
might  prove  ruinous  to  the  enterprise,  stepped  for- 
ward and  interposed.  He  first,  respectfully,  and  in 
a  manner  calculated  to  soothe  the  irritated  feelings 


202  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

of  Arnold,  set  forth  the  doubtfulness  of  his  right, 
even  under  the  instruction  and  commission  he  had 
received,  to  assume  the  command  of  troops  who  had 
not  been  enlisted  by  him,  but  who  had  volunteered, 
without  any  knowledge  of  him  or  his  instructions, 
and  with  the  implied  condition  that  they  should  be 
left  to  the  choice  of  their  own  leaders.  He  then  ap- 
pealed to  him  as  gentleman,  a  patriot,  and  friend  to 
the  common  cause,  whether  he  would  do  well  to  insist 
on  his  claim,  since  doing  so,  as  he  must  see,  would 
prove  destructive  of  their  expedition.  This  courteous 
and  well-timed  appeal,  which  opened  a  door  by  which 
Arnold  might  honorably  retreat  from  his  awkward 
position,  seemed  to  produce  on  his  mind  an  instanta- 
neous effect.  The  dark  and  angry  frown,  which  had 
settled  on  his  countenance,  gave  way  to  a  bright  and 
cheerful  look.  With  one  hand  he  instantly  tore  the 
epaulets  from  his  shoulders,  while,  with  the  other,  he 
drew  his  sword  and  threw  it  on  the  ground,  gallantly 
exclaiming : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  most  cheerfully  waive  all  preten- 
sions to  the  command,  which  of  right,  I  am  now  con- 
vinced, belongs  to  the  brave  leader  of  the  far-famed 
Green  Mountain  Boys.  But  as  to  going  with  you 
on  this  glorious  enterprise,  it  is  a  privilege  which, 

by  ,  I  won't  relinquish!     Gentlemen,  will  you 

furnish  me  with  a  common  musket,  and  accept  me  as 
a  volunteer  soldier  of  your  gallant  band? " 

Allen  appeared  to  be  taken  completely  aback  by 
this  sudden  declaration  of  Arnold.  His  naturally 
forgiving  and  noble  disposition,  and  quick  feelings, 


Arnold  and  Allen  203 

were  instantly  touched  with  this  mark  of  magna- 
nimity, as  unexpected  to  him,  as  it  was  remarkable 
in  the  man,  being  the  most  striking,  ?nd  perhaps  the 
only,  instance  of  the  kind  ever  displayed  by  this 
brave,  but  unprincipled,  officer  in  his  whole  public 
career. 

"  Done  like  a  man,  by  Jove!  "  exclaimed  the  chival- 
rous leader  of  the  Green  INIountain  Boys,  advancing 
and  cordially  proffering  the  other  his  hand  while  the 
tears  of  admiring  and  grateful  emotion  fairly  started 
out  on  to  his  brawny  cheeks.  "  Done  like  a  man 
and  a  hero !  Here,  God  bless  you,  give  us  your  fist ! 
Will  you  accept  the  post  of  my  aid-de-camp,  with 
the  rank  your  commission  gives  you? " 

"Most  cheerfully,  sir,"  replied  the  flattered 
Arnold,  waving  his  hand  with  easy  and  grateful 
courtesy. 

"  Pick  up  your  sword  and  badges,  then,  sir,"  re- 
sumed Allen.  "  Call  for  your  horse,  and  we  will  now 
on  together,  like  brothers,  in  the  cause  of  God  and 
the  people.  Officers  and  soldiers !  "  he  continued,  in 
a  loud  and  cheering  voice,  that  rung  like  a  deep-toned 
trumpet  far  and  wide  over  field  and  forest  around, 
w!  lie  he  sprang  upon  his  impatient  charger,  and 
waved  his  sword  on  high;  "prepare  to  march! 
Ethan  Allen  still  commands  you.  Peace  is  in  the 
camp,  the  Lord  on  our  side,  and  victory  before  us! 
Forward,  march ! " 

Three  loud  and  lively  cheers  told  the  satisfaction 
of  the  men  at  this  double  announcement,  and  in  an- 
other moment  the  whole  corps,  wheeling  off  to  the 


204  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

brisk  and  stirring  notes  of  shrieking  fife  and  rat- 
tling drum,  were  sweeping  down  the  road  in  full 
march  towards  the  object  of  their  destination,  Fort 
Ticonderoga. 

When  reaching  the  shore  of  the  lake  the  troops 
partook  of  a  dinner  from  the  provisions  of  their  packs, 
after  which  they  were  allowed  an  hour's  rest,  which 
was  enlivened,  as  they  were  seated  along  the  mossy 
banks  of  the  gurgling  rivulet,  with  song,  tale,  and 
jest,  till  the  deep  recesses  of  the  forest  rang  with 
the  sounds  of  their  merriment.  While  the  officers, 
who  were  seated  in  a  group  by  themselves,  were  con- 
sulting their  watches,  and  awaiting  the  moment  set 
by  them  for  resuming  their  march,  a  horseman,  ap- 
proaching from  the  west,  suddenly  rode  up,  dis- 
mounted, and  stood  before  them. 

"Ah!  Phelps!"  exclaimed  Colonel  Allen,  spring- 
ing up  and  shaking  the  new-comer  heartily  by  the 
hand,  "is  it  possible? — a  spy  returned  unhung  from 
a  British  fort?  Well,  sir,  what  news  from  the  camp 
of  the  Philistines?" 

"  Almost  everything  we  could  wish,  gentlemen," 
replied  the  person  addressed,  a  Connecticut  gentle- 
man of  considerable  shrewdness  and  address,  who  had 
been  despatched  a  day  or  two  previous  to  go  over  to 
the  fort,  enter  it  on  some  feigned  errand,  and  gain 
the  best  knowledge  of  its  situation  the  circumstances 
would  permit.  "  I  have  been  within  the  fort — mostly 
over  the  works — stayed  there  last  night,  and  came 
away  unsuspected  this  morning." 

Phelps  then  proceeded  to  give  an  account  of  the 


Arnold  and  Allen  205 

manner  he  had  effected  his  discoveries  at  the  fort, 
without  exciting  the  suspicions  of  the  garrison  rel- 
ative to  the  object  of  his  visit — how,  in  the  assumed 
character  of  a  green  country  bumpkin,  he  made  it  his 
ostensible  errand  to  see  a  war-cannon,  and  also  the 
strange  man  who  shaved  other  men,  called  a  barber; 
how  the  soldiers  laughed  at  his  pretended  ignorance, 
and  the  officers,  coming  to  see  the  green  Yankee, 
amused  themselves  by  questioning  him,  and  listening 
to  his  replies,  at  which  they  w^ere  amazingly  tickled, 
and  then  ordered  a  twenty-four  pounder  to  be  fired 
for  the  fun  of  witnessing  the  prodigious  fright  into 
which  the  report  appeared  to  throw  him.  And, 
finally,  having  induced  him,  after  many  entreaties, 
to  permit  the  barber  to  shave  him,  how  they  all  stood 
by  to  see  the  performance,  laughing  heartily  at  the 
wincing  and  woeful  countenance  he  assumed,  and  the 
fears  he  pretended  of  having  his  throat  cut. 

After  finishing  his  diverting  description  of  this  part 
of  his  adventures,  he  detailed  with  great  accuracy 
the  situation  of  the  fortress,  the  names  and  grades 
of  the  officers,  and  the  number  of  the  gan-ison. 

"  But,  gentlemen,"  said  he,  in  conclusion,  "  there 
is  one  question  which  I  will  no  longer  delay  to  ask 
you.  Have  you  made  provision  for  boats  to  trans- 
port the  troops  across  the  lake?  There  is  not  a  single 
craft  larger  than  a  skiff  on  this  side,  just  now,  within 
ten  miles  of  the  fort." 

"  God  forgive  me  the  oversight !  "  exclaimed  Allen. 
"  We  must  instantly  set  measures  on  foot  for  re- 
pairing   it.     Douglass — Lieutenant    Douglass,    step 


2o6  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

forward  here  a  moment!  What  boats  are  there  on 
this  side  the  lake  to  the  north  of  this  ? " 

"  An  excellent  scow  for  our  purpose  is  owned  by 
the  Smiths,  a  few  miles  this  side  of  Crown  Point," 
replied  the  blue-eyed  and  broad-shouldered  descend- 
ant of  his  Caledonian  namesakes,  stepping  promptly 
forward,  and  comprehending  at  a  glance  the  emer- 
gency that  produced  the  question. 

"The  Smiths?  Good!  They  are  with  us,  too,  in 
heart,  and  should  be  also  in  person,"  rejoined  the 
Colonel.  "  Well,  their  scow  we  must  have  at  all 
events.  And  j^ou,  Douglass,  are  the  very  man  to  go 
and  get  it.     Will  you  do  it?" 

"  I  am  the  verj^  man  who  is  willing  to  try.  Colonel 
Allen,"  answered  the  other. 

"  And  can  you  reach  the  landing  against  Ti  with 
it  by  nine  o'clock  this  evening? " 

"  Hardly,  I  fear.  It  is  nearly  a  dozen  miles ;  but 
I  '11  do  my  best,  Colonel." 

"  Go,  then,  as  if  the  devil  kicked  you  on  end.  The 
salvation  of  our  project  may  depend  upon  jour  get- 
ting back  in  season.  But  stay !  We  must  have  more 
boats  than  one.  To  the  south,  I  know  of  none.  Per- 
haps you  may  meet  with  some  going  up  or  down  the 
lake,  which  might  be  pressed  into  the  service;  or,  as 
the  last  resort,  one  might  possibly  be  got  away  from 
Crown  Point  without  the  discovery  which  would  en- 
danger us.  Another  man,  however,  will  be  wanted 
for  any  of  these  purposes,  besides  the  oarsmen  you 
will  pick  up  on  your  way.  And' — Jones!  this  way! 
Have  you  heard  what  we  are  at?     Very  well.     You 


An  old   Fort   Aiiilicist    Doorway. 


Arnold  and  Allen  207 

are  just  the  chap  to  go  on  this  hap-hazard  errand. 
What  say  you?  Can  you  bring  anything  to  pass  if 
we  send  you  ?  '* 

"  Wh}^,  I  can't  exactly  say,  Colonel,"  replied  Jones, 
placing  his  feet  astride,  and  looking  up  with  one  eye 
queerly  cocked  on  his  interrogator,  while  the  other 
was  tightly  closed :  "  I  ain't  so  much  of  a  water- 
fowl as  some;  but,  perhaps,  I  mought  make  fetch 
come  a  little." 

"  Pack  up  then,  and  be  off  with  Douglass  in  two 
minutes;  and  remember,  both  of  you,  if  you  fail 
us " 

"  Then  what  ? "  asked  Jones,  suddenly  stopping 
and  looking  back,  "  I  don't  calculate  to  be  over- 
particular. Colonel,  but  if  it  would  n't  be  too  much 
trouble,  I  should  like  to  know  that,  before  we  start." 

"  You  shall  be  doomed  to  sit  forty  days  and  nights 
in  sack-cloth  and  ashes,"  humorously  said  Allen. 

"  By  Jonah!  "  exclaimed  Pete,  "  the  boats  shall  be 
there  by  the  time.  Colonel !  " 

While  the  latter  part  of  this  dialogue  was  going 
on,  Warrington  stood  with  his  back  to  the  company, 
with  one  foot  on  a  log,  busily  engaged  in  writing 
with  his  pencil  on  a  blank  leaf,  torn  from  his  pocket- 
book  and  placed  on  his  knee. 

"  Aha !  my  lad,"  said  Allen,  in  a  playful  under- 
tone, as  he  approached  the  former,  and  significantly 
placed  one  finger  on  his  shoulder,  "  more  faith  now, 
than  when  we  two  were  lying  on  the  hay,  in  the 
Captain's  barn,  waiting  for  our  rifles,  eh? " 

"  I  really  wish  you  would  mind  j^our  own  business. 


2o8  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

Colonel,"  replied  Warrington,  with  affected  anger. 

"  Well,  well,"  resumed  Allen,  laughing,  "  send  it, 
my  boy.  Mars,  they  say,  never  prospers  so  well  as 
when  he  has  Cupid  in  his  train,  in  any  case.  But 
with  such  a  piece  of  God's  handiwork  as  yours  to 
incite  to  action — ^heavens!  if  the  knights  of  old  had 
been  blest  with  such  lady-loves,  they  would  never  have 
needed  to  carry  half  a  hundred  weight  of  old  iron 
on  their  lubberly  carcasses  to  make  them  heroes." 

Stripping  off  their  coats  to  fit  them  for  a  rapid 
march,  these  athletic  and  resolute  woodsmen  now 
seized  their  rifles,  took  a  glance  at  the  sun  for  a 
hasty  calculation  of  the  bearing  of  the  course  to  be 
taken  to  lead  them  to  their  proposed  destination,  and, 
plunging  into  the  woods,  were  soon  lost  to  the  sight 
of  their  companions. 

A  small  guard  was  then  sent  on  in  advance,  with 
orders  to  pick  up  and  detain  every  man  on  the  road, 
not  in  the  secret  of  the  expedition.  Scouts  to  range 
the  woods  on  the  right  and  left  were  also  despatched 
for  the  same  purpose;  after  which  the  main  body 
of  the  forces  quietly  resumed  their  march  for  the  lake. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  CAPTURE  OF  FORT  TICONDEROGA  BY  CAPTAIN 

ETHAN  AiXEN — Continued 

IT  being  now  sufficiently  dusk  to  prevent  all  obser- 
vation from  the  opposite  garrison,  Jones  and 
Douglass  proceeded  immediately  to  the  landing,  which 
they  found  guarded  by  two  Green  Mountain  Boys, 
who,  making  fishing  their  ostensible  business,  had,  in 
pursuance  of  the  arrangement  before  mentioned, 
closely  watched  the  place  during  the  two  preceding 
days.  Here,  also,  they  met  Neshobee,  an  Indian,  who 
had  just  returned  in  a  skiff  from  Major  Skene's  scow, 
in  possession,  as  before  intimated,  of  a  stout  negro, 
who,  with  two  low,  sottish  fellows  under  his  com- 
mand, having  spent  the  day  at  that  fort  to  take  in 
some  loading,  and  visit  the  soldiers  previous  to  start- 
ing home,  as  they  intended  to  do,  the  next  morning, 
had  come  over  just  at  night  and  taken  a  fishing  sta- 
tion near  the  landing.  Jones  and  his  companions 
hesitated  not  to  open  their  project  of  obtaining  this 
boat  to  Neshobee,  who  very  cheerfully  agreed  to  co- 
operate with  them  in  dumping  the  negro,  and  to 
assist  in  rowing  the  boat  up  to  the  landing,  where 
they  were  to  be  met  by  Allen's  forces.     The  boat  was 

lying  about  a  dozen  rods  from  the  shore;  and  black 

14  209 


210  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

Jack,  as  he  was  called,  and  his  men,  having  pulled  up 
their  anchor,  were  now  on  the  point  of  putting  back 
for  the  fort ;  when  the  party  on  the  shore,  their  plan  of 
operation  being  all  arranged,  hailed  the  black  com- 
mander, and  desired  him  to  haul  up  to  the  landing. 

"  Who  the  debil  you,  who  want  me  to  do  all  dat 
for  notting?"  replied  Jack,  in  a  swaggering,  con- 
sequential tone. 

"  Oh,  pull  up  to  the  shore,"  said  Wilcox,  "  there  are 
three  or  four  of  us  here  who  are  wishing  to  make 
a  bargain  with  you." 

"Bargain,  hey?  you  shackaroons,  you!  You  tink 
for  play  some  deblish  trick,  don't  you?  Guess  you 
find  out  you  no  catch  weazel  sleep  so  easy  as  all  dat 
come  to!  "  responded  the  negro,  chuckling  at  his  own 
wit  and  sagacity. 

"No,  now,  honestly.  Captain  Jack,"  rejoined  the 
first  speaker,  "  we  want  to  go  to  Shoreham  landing 
to-night,  to  be  ready  to  join  a  wolf  hunt  which 
they  are  going  to  start  there  early  to-morrow 
morning." 

"Gosh  all  fire-lock!"  exclaimed  the  black,  whose 
opinion  of  his  own  importance  was  greatly  raised  by 
being  addressed  as  Captain:  "You  tink  I  row  my 
boat  all  de  way  op  dar  in  de  dark  jest  for  'commodate 
you?    'Nol  see  you  all  dam  fus!  " 

"  Now  you  are  too  bad,  Captain ;  but  j^ou  won't 
damn  our  jug  of  old  Jamaica,  that  M^e  intended  to 
offer  you  for  carrying  us  up  there,  will  you?"  said 
the  other,  taking  a  jug  from  under  his  coat  and 
swinging  it  over  his  head,  so  that  the  black,  whose 


X 


Black  Jack 


211 


taste  for  liquor  was  well  known  to  the  young  men, 
might  catch  a  view  of  it  in  the  twilight. 

"  What  you  say,  dere?  "  eagerly  said  Jack,  stretch- 
ing forward  his  neck  to  see,  and  make  sure  of  the 
existence  of  the  tempting  implement. 

"  We  say,"  replied  the  former,  "  that  here  Is  a  gal- 
lon of  as  good  rum  as  ever  run  down  your  throat, 
which  is  at  your  sei'vice,  if  you  will  close  the  bargain. 
Come,  give  us  your  answer,  for  if  we  can't  make  a 
trade  with  you,  we  must  be  off  for  a  boat  somewhere 
else.  What  you  say? — and  mind  ye,  we  will  lend 
you  a  stiff  hand  at  the  oars  to  boot." 

"  You  help  row  de  boat,  you  say?  "  answered  Jack, 
in  an  altered  and  yielding  tone.  "  Why  de  debit  you 
no  say  so  fore?  Dat  be  a  case  dat  alter  de  circum- 
stance. You  werry  much  to  blame,  gemmen,  dat 
you  no  mention  so  'portant  a  difference  in  fus  place," 
added  the  negro,  while  he  and  his  men  headed  round 
the  boat,  and  handled  the  oars  with  such  effect  that 
nearly  the  next  moment  she  was  lying  at  the  landing. 

Within  five  minutes  from  the  time,  the  magic  jug, 
which  had  effected  such  a  wonderful  change  in  the 
aspect  of  affairs,  having  been  well  tested  in  the  mean- 
while by  Jack  and  his  associates,  all  hands  were  stript 
and  bending  to  the  oars  of  the  old  scow,  which,  under 
the  forceful  strokes  of  Jones  and  his  party,  aided 
by  the  rum-power  of  Jack's  two  besotted  boatmen, 
was  surging  through  the  waters  towards  the  south,  as 
fast  as  their  united  strength  would  drive  her. 

They  were  soon  met,  however,  by  puffs  of  south 
wind,  against  which  they  found  it  impossible  to  make 


212  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

but  a  very  slow  headway.  And  it  was  not  until  con- 
siderable past  midnight  that  they  came  to  the  last 
reach,  and  hove  in  sight  of  the  destined  landing.  But 
here  overtaking  Douglass  with  the  other  scow,  and 
the  party  he  had  enlisted  to  help  man  it,  both  boats, 
wdth  renewed  efforts  of  rival  speed,  pushed  forward 
for  the  api^ointed  shore. 

"Boat  ahoy!"  called  out  Allen  from  the  landing, 
where,  as  the  boats  neared  the  place,  his  huge,  tower- 
like form,  rising  in  bold  relief  over  the  stationary 
group  of  officers  around  him,  could  now  plainly  bo 
discerned  by  the  approaching  crews:  "  boat  ahoy!  who 
comes  here  ? " 

"  Douglass  and  his  friends,  in  this,"  was  the  reply 
from  the  first  boat,  coming  in  about  its  length  in 
advance  of  the  other. 

"And  who  is  next?"  asked  Allen. 

"  Jones  and  a  thunder-cloud !  "  responded  the  well- 
kno^\'Ti  voice  of  the  jolly  woodsman.  "  Now  you 
needn't  think  I  am  fibbing,  Colonel;  for  you  will 
see  it  lighten  when  we  get  ashore." 

"  All  is  well,  then,"  said  Allen,  without  heeding 
the  remarks  of  Jones,  further  than  his  announcement 
of  himself  with  a  boat,  "  all  is  well,  and  glory  to 
God  in  the  highest,  that  you  have  got  here  at  last! 
I  thought  you  would  never  come.  Why,  it  has 
been  an  age  since  dark!  Some  old  sun-stopping 
Joshua  must  be  fighting  on  the  other  side  of  the 
earth,  or,  I  swear,  it  would  have  been  daylight  long 
ago!" 

By  this  time  the  first  boat  had  struck  the  shore, 


Seizure  of  Boats  213 

and  the  crew,  leaping  out,  were  all  readily  recognized 
by  the  leader,  who  then  turned  to  the  other  boat,  at 
that  instant  driving  up,  with  the  astonished  and 
frightened  negro  (now  for  the  first  time  mistrusting 
a  trick),  gibbering  and  sputtering  aloud: 

"  What  de  hell  all  dis? — who  all  dese?  what  pretty 
dam  scrape  j^ou  got  me  into  here,  you  shackaroon 
debils,  j^ou? " 

"  What  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  black  and  red 
have  you  got  here,  Jones?"  cried  Allen,  in  surprise, 
stepping  up  and  peering  into  the  boat,  on  hearing 
Jack's  exclamations. 

"  Why,  just  what  I  told  you,  Colonel.  Here!  don't 
you  see  it  lighten,  now?"  said  Pete,  pointing  to  the 
negro's  eyes,  which  glaring  wide  with  fear  and  as- 
tonishment, at  what  he  saw  and  heard,  glimmered 
like  firebugs  in  the  dark.  "  But  the  English  of  it 
is,  Colonel,  that  we  came  across  Major  Skene's  scow, 
commanded  by  Captain  Darkey,  with  two  oarsmen, 
here,  who  for  a  gallon  of  rum  were  kind  enough  to 
bring  us  along  to  join  a  hunting  match  at  Shoreham, 
where  we  have  now  arrived,  safe  and  sound,"  he  con- 
tinued, turning  to  the  black,  "  so  now,  Captain  Jack, 
you  have  fulfilled  your  bargain  with  us ;  and  we  have 
nothing  more  to  say,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned. 
If  these  rough-looking  chaps  here  want  to  employ 
you  further,  they  will  let  you  know  it,  likely." 

"  Jones,  you  deserve  a  pension  for  life!  "  exclaimed 
Allen  comprehending  the  whole  affair  in  an  instant. 
"  You  and  your  friends  here  have  killed  more  birds 
with  one  stone  than  you  dreamed  of  yourselves,  per- 


214  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

haps.  But  we  have  not  a  moment  to  lose,  so  leap 
out  my  lads,  and  as  to  INIajor  Skene's  boat  it  is  my 
lawful  prize.  And  Major  Skene's  negro,  and  INIajor 
Skene's  negro's  understrappers  here,  are  all  my 
prisoners! " 

"  Oh,  no,  totally  unpossible  to  stop,  gemmen!  "  said 
Jack,  in  a  good  lord,  good  devil  sort  of  tone,  being 
doubtful  whether  they  really  intended  to  make  him 
a  prisoner,  or  engage  him  and  his  boat  to  carry  them 
to  some  other  place.  "  I  have  provision  for  de 
Major's  family  aboard.  Dey  all  out  ob  supply  for 
dere  necessity.     Quite  unpossible,  gemmen." 

"  We  will  take  care  of  the  provisions.  So  out  with 
you  in  no  time,  you  black  Satan ! "  said  Allen  im- 
patiently. 

"  Oh,  it  be  out  ob  all  question  I  stop!"  persisted 
the  negro  with  increasing  alarm,  "  I  have  odder 
'portant  business — I  have  letter  from  de  young  leddy 
at  Captain  Hendee's  [Chimney  Point]  to  de  young 
leddy  ob  Colonel  Reed  at  de  Major's  dat  I  oblige  for 
deliver,  early  in  de  morning." 

"  We  will  undertake  the  delivery  of  the  letter,"  said 
Selden  and  Warrington,  simultaneously. 

"  Tumble  them  out,  boys ! "  sternly  exclaimed 
Allen. 

"  Oh,  Lordy,  I  den  be  ruin!  totally,  foreber  ruin!  " 
groaned  the  distressed  and  frightened  black,  as  the 
men  seized  him  and  his  two  drunken  associates,  and 
led  them  to  the  rear  to  be  put  under  guard. 

The  boats  were  now  instantly  headed  round,  the 
oars  muffled,  careful  oarsmen  selected  and  placed  in 


fcJD 

rH 
O 


o 


Embarkation  215 

their  seats;  when,  after  each  boat  had  been  filled 
with  as  many  troops  as  their  respective  burthens 
would  safely  permit,  they  pushed  off  from  the  shore, 
preceded  a  short  hailing  distance  by  a  skiff,  occupied 
b}^  Allen  and  Arnold,  with  Phelps  to  pilot  them  to 
their  contemplated  landing,  on  the  opposite  shore.  The 
wind  had  some  time  since  died  wholly  away,  and  the 
elements  were  now  all  hushed,  as  if  in  the  slumbers 
of  death;  while  the  deeply  freighted  crafts  glided 
slowly  on,  impelled  by  the  light  dip  of  the  feathery 
oars,  which,  in  the  hands  of  the  experienced  and  care- 
ful men  who  plied  them,  unitedly  rose  and  fell  as 
noiseless  as  the  feet  of  fairies  on  beds  of  flowers.  At 
length  the  dark,  massy  walls  of  the  fortress,  looming 
uj),  became  discernible  to  the  men.  And  j^et,  as  they 
drew  near  these  frowning  walls,  pierced  by  a  hundred 
cannon,  over  which,  for  aught  they  knew,  the  lighted 
matches  were  suspended,  awaiting  but  the  signal  to 
send  their  iron  showers  of  death  to  every  man  of 
their  devoted  band,  no  misgivings,  no  weak  relentings 
came  over  them:  but  at  a  moment  like  this  and  that 
which  followed  at  the  onset, — moments  furnishing, 
perhaps,  a  more  undoubted  test  of  courage  than  those 
of  the  half  frantic,  half  mechanical  charges  of  the 
disciplined  legions  of  Napoleon,  at  the  later  fields  of 
Austerlitz  and  Marengo — at  a  moment  like  this,  we 
say,  their  stout  hearts,  nothing  daunted  at  the  dan- 
gers before  them,  beat  high  and  proudly  at  the 
thought  of  the  coming  encounter,  and  with  stern  de- 
termination gleaming  in  every  eye,  and  with  the  low- 
whispered  words  of  impatience  for  the  moment  of 


2i6  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

action  to  arrive,  they  moved  steadily  on  to  the  daring 
purpose. 

Passing  down  obliquely  by  the  works,  they  landed 
some  distance  to  the  north  of  them.  The  instant  they 
touched  the  shore  the  troops  leaped  on  the  banks; 
and  scarcely  had  the  last  foot  been  lifted  from  the 
boats  before  they  were  backed,  wheeled,  and  on  their 
return  for  another  load,  leaving  those  on  shore  to 
await  in  silence  the  arrival  of  a  reinforcement  from 
their  companions  left  behind,  before  marching  to  the 
onset.  Those  companions,  however,  were  not  des- 
tined to  share  in  the  glory  of  this  splendid  achieve- 
ment of  the  eighty  Green  Mountain  Boys  who  had 
landed ;  for  in  a  few  moments,  to  the  dismay  of  Allen, 
the  faint  suffusions  of  dawning  day  became  visible  in 
the  east.  Cursing  the  luck  which  had  caused  such 
delays,  and  chafing  like  a  chained  lion  held  back  from 
his  prey,  that  impetuous  leader  for  a  few  moments 
rapidly  paced  the  shore  before  his  men,  in  an  agony 
of  impatience — now  casting  an  eager  look  at  the  fort, 
still  silent  and  undisturbed,  now  straining  his  vision 
after  the  receding  boats,  which,  to  him,  seemed  to 
move  like  snails  across  the  waters,  and  now  throwing 
an  uneasy  glance  at  the  reddening  east,  whose  twi- 
light glow,  growing  broader  and  brighter  eveiy 
instant,  plainly  told  him  that,  before  another  de- 
tachment of  troops  could  arrive,  his  forces  would  be 
discovered,  and  the  enterprise,  in  all  probability, 
would  thus  be  defeated.  INIaddened  at  the  thought, 
he  stopped  short  in  his  walk,  paused  an  instant,  and 
brought  his   foot   with   a  significant   stamp   to  the 


a; 
be 

o 
C 


f^ 


^ 


'^^■*y''-i^-;.,. 


Debarkation  217 

ground,  showing  that  his  resolution  was  taken.  And 
quickly  calling  out  Jones  and  Neshobee,  he  de- 
spatched them  to  go  forward,  cautiously  reconnoitre 
the  fort  on  all  sides,  and  return  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible to  report  their  discoveries.  He  then  formed  his 
men  in  three  ranks  and  addressed  them. 

"  You  see,  my  friends  and  fellow-soldiers,"  he 
commenced,  pointing  his  sword  to  the  east,  "  that 
daylight  will  reveal  us  to  the  enemy  before  a  re- 
inforcement can  possibly  arrive.  But  can  you,  who 
have  so  long  been  the  scourge  of  tyrants,  bring  your 
minds  to  relinquish  the  noble  enterprise,  and  with  it  the 
proud  name  you  have  achieved,  by  turning  your  backs 
on  the  glorious  prize,  when  it  is  now  almost  within 
your  grasp? " 

He  paused  for  a  reply;  when  "No!  no!  no!"  ran 
through  the  lines  in  eager  responses. 

"  I  see,  I  see,  my  brave  fellows,"  resumed  the 
gratified  leader,  "  I  see  what  you  would  do.  I  read 
it  in  your  deeply  breathed  tones  of  determination — 
in  your  quick  and  short-drawn  respirations,  and  in 
your  restless  and  impatient  movements.  But  have 
you  well  considered?  I  now  propose  to  lead  you 
through  yonder  gate;  and  I  fear  not  to  tell  men  of 
your  stamp,  that  we  incur  no  small  hazard  of  life 
in  the  attempt.  And,  as  I  would  urge  no  man  to 
engage  against  his  own  free  will,  I  now  give  free 
and  full  permission  to  all,  who  choose,  to  remain  be- 
hind. You,  therefore,  who  will  voluntarily  accom- 
jiany  me,  poise  your  guns." 

Every  man's  gun  was  instantly  brought  to  a  poise, 


21 8  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

with  a  motion  which  told  with  what  good-will  it  was 
made. 

"God  bless  you,  my  noble  fellows!"  exclaimed 
Allen  proudly,  and  with  emotion:  "  Courage  like 
that  " — he  continued,  in  tones  of  concentrated  energy, 
*'  courage  like  that,  with  hearts  of  oak,  and  nerves 
of  steel  like  yours,  must,  will,  and  by  the  help  of  the 
God  of  hosts,  shall  triumph!  Come  on,  then!  follow 
me — march  while  I  march — run  and  rush  when  I  set 
the  example;  and  if  I  fall,  still  rush  on,  and  over 
me,  to  vengeance  and  victory!  To  the  right  wheel! 
march !  " 

When  the  band  arrived  within  about  a  furlong  of 
the  ramparts,  they  were  met  by  the  scouts,  who  re- 
ported that  all  was  quiet  in  and  about  the  fort,  while 
the  open  gate  was  guarded  only  by  one  sluggish  and 
sleepy-looking  sentinel.  Halting  no  longer  than  was 
necessary  to  hear  this  report,  Allen,  placing  himself 
at  the  head  of  the  centre  column,  silently  waved  his 
sword  to  the  troops  as  a  signal  for  resuming  the 
march;  when  they  all  again  moved  forward  with 
rapid  but  cautious  steps  towards  the  guarded  gate- 
way. And  so  noiseless  and  unexpected  was  their 
approach,  that  they  came  within  twenty  paces  of  the 
entrance  before  they  were  discovered  by  the  drowsy 
sentry,  who  was  slowly  pacing  to  and  fro,  with 
shouldered  musket,  before  it.  Turning  around  with 
a  start,  the  aroused  soldier  glared  an  instant  at  the 
advancing  array,  in  mute  astonishment  and  alarm; 
when  he  hastily  cocked,  and  levelled  his  piece  at 
Allen,  who  was  striding  towards  him,  several  yards 


Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  219 

in  advance  of  his  men.  It  was  an  instant  on  which 
hung  the  fate  of  the  hero  of  the  Green  ]\Ioun- 
tains  and,  probably,  also  the  destinies  of  Ticonde- 
roga. But  the  gun  missed  fire.  The  life  of  the 
daring  leader  was  safe,  and  the  garrison  slept  on, 
unalarmed,  and  unconscious  of  their  danger.  Leap- 
ing forward  like  the  bounding  tiger  on  his  victim, 
Allen  followed  up  the  retreating  soldier  so  hotly 
that,  with  all  the  speed  which  fear  could  lend  him, 
he  could  scarcely  keep  clear  of  the  rapidlj''  whirling 
sword  of  his  fiery  pursuer,  till  he  gained  the  interior 
of  the  fortress ;  when  he  gave  a  loud  screech  of  alarm, 
and  making  a  desperate  leap  for  the  bomb  proof, 
disappeared  within  its  recesses.  Meanwhile  the  rush- 
ing column  of  troops  came  sweeping  like  a  whirlwind 
through  the  gate;  when  fairly  gaining  the  parade 
ground  in  front  of  the  barracks,  they  gave  three 
cheers  which  made  the  old  walls  tremble  with  the 
deafening  reverberations,  and  caused  the  slumbering 
garrison  to  start  from  their  beds  in  wild  dismay  at 
the  unwonted  sound.  Scarcely  had  the  last  huzza 
escaped  the  lips  of  the  men  and  their  leader,  who  dis- 
dained not  to  mingle  his  own  stentorian  voice  in  the 
peals  of  exultation  and  defiance,  which  rose  in 
thunders  to  heaven,  before  the  latter  was  rapidly 
threading  his  way  through  flying  sentries  and  half- 
dressed  officers,  towards  the  quarters  of  the  command- 
ant of  the  fortress.  Pausing  an  instant  on  his  way, 
to  chastise  a  dastard  sentinel  whom  he  caught  making 
a  pass  at  one  of  our  officers  with  his  bayonet,  and 
whom,  with  one  blow  with  the  flat  of  his  sword,  he 


220  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

sent  reeling  to  the  earth  with  the  cry  of  mercy  on  his 
lips,  the  daring  leader  bounded  up  the  stairwaj^  lead- 
ing to  the  commandant's  room,  and  thundering  at 
the  door,  called  loudly  to  that  officer  to  come  forth. 
Captain  La  Place,  who  had  just  leaped  from  his  bed, 
on  hearing  the  tumult  below,  soon  made  his  appear- 
ance with  his  clothes  in  his  hand,  but  suddenly 
recoiling  a  step,  he  stood  gazing  in  mute  amaze- 
ment at  the  stern  and  threatening  air,  and  the 
powerful  and  commanding  figure  of  the  man  before 
him. 

"  I  come,  sir,  to  demand  the  immediate  surrender 
of  this  fortress!  "  sternly  said  Allen,  to  the  astonished 
commander. 

"  By  what  authority  do  you  make  this  bold  demand 
of  his  Majesty's  fort,  sir?"  said  the  other,  almost 
distrusting  his  senses. 

"By  what  authority?"  thundered  Allen,  "I  de- 
mand it,  sir,  in  the  name  of  the  great  Jehovah  and 
the  Continental  Congress!" 

"  The  Continental  Congress?  "  stammered  the  hesi- 
tating officer,  "  I  know  no  right — I  don't  acknowledge 
it,  sir " 

"  But  you  soon  will  acknowledge  it,  sir! "  fiercely 
interrupted  the  impatient  leader.  "  And  hesitate  to 
obey  me  one  instant  longer,  and  by  the  eternal 
heavens!  I  will  sacrifice  every  man  in  your  fort! — 
beginning  the  work,  sir,"  he  added,  whirling  his  sword 
furiously  over  the  head  of  the  other,  and  bringing 
the  murderous  blade  at  every  glittering  circle  it  made 
in  the  air,  nearer  and  nearer  the  head  of  its  threat- 


Allen's  Authority  221 

ened  victim,  "beginning  the  work,  sir,  by  sending 
your  own  head  dancing  across  this  floor!" 

"I  yield,  I  yield!"  cried  the  shrinking  com- 
mandant. 

"Down!  down  then,  instantly!"  exclaimed  Allen, 
"  and  communicate  the  surrender  to  your  men  while 
any  of  them  are  left  alive  to  hear  it." 

Scarcely  allowing  the  crest-fallen  officer  time  to 
encase  his  legs  in  his  breeches,  Allen  hurried  him 
down  to  the  scene  of  action,  in  the  open  parade  be- 
low. Here  they  found  the  Green  Mountain  Boys 
eagerly  engaged  in  the  work  of  capturing  the  garri- 
son, who  were  making  considerable  show  of  resist- 
ance. Two  of  the  barrack  doors  had  been  beaten 
down,  and  about  a  third  of  the  enemy  already  made 
prisoners.  And  the  fiery  Arnold  was  on  the  point 
of  blowing  a  third  door  from  its  hinges  with  a  swivel, 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  drawn  up  for  the  purpose ; 
while  a  fourth  was  shaking  and  tottering  under  the 
tremendous  blows  of  an  axe,  wielded  by  the  long  and 
powerful  arms  of  Pete  Jones,  who  was  found  among 
the  foremost  in  the  contest. 

"  Cease,  cease  ye  all!  "  cried  Allen,  in  a  loud  voice 
of  command,  as  he  appeared  among  them  with  La 
Place  by  his  side. 

"  Now  raaly.  Colonel,"  said  Jones,  suspending  his 
elevated  implement,  and  holding  it  back  over  his  head 
in  readiness  for  another  blow,  "  I  wish  you  would 
let  me  settle  with  this  devilish  old  oak  door  before 
I  stop.  Why,  I  never  was  so  bothered  with  such  a 
small  potato  in  my  life! " 


222  Capture  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

"No,  no!"  answered  the  other  smiling,  "let  us 
have  silence  a  moment,  and  we  will  save  you  all 
troubles  of  that  kind." 

"  Well,  then,  here  goes  for  a  parting  blessing ! " 
exclaimed  the  woodsman,  bringing  down  his  axe  with 
a  tremendous  blow,  which  brought  the  shattered  door 
tumbling  to  the  ground. 

The  British  commandant  then,  calling  his  officers 
around  him,  informed  them  that  he  had  surrendered 
the  fortress,  and  ordered  them  to  parade  the  men 
without  arms.  While  this  was  in  performance,  a 
second  detachment  of  Green  Mountain  Boys  reached 
the  shore,  and,  having  eagerly  hastened  on  to  the  fort 
to  join  their  companions,  now,  with  Warrington  at 
their  head,  came  pouring  into  the  arena.  A  single 
glance  sufficed  to  tell  the  latter  that  he  was  too  late 
to  participate  in  aught  but  the  fruits  of  the  victory. 
With  a  disappointed  and  mortified  air  he  halted  his 
men,  and  approached  to  the  side  of  his  leader. 

"  Ah!  Colonel! "  said  he,  "  is  this  the  way  you  ap- 
propriate all  the  laurels  to  yourself,  entirely  forgetful 
of  your  friends? " 

"Pooh!  pooh!  Charles,"  replied  Allen,  turning  to 
the  other  with  a  soothing,  yet  self -complaisant  smile 
at  the  half  reproachful  compliment  thus  conveyed, 
"  you  need  not  mourn  much  lost  glory  in  this  affair. 
Why,  the  stupid  devils  did  not  give  us  a  fight  enough 
to  whet  our  appetites  for  breakfast!  But  nev^r  mind, 
Charles,  there  is  more  business  yet  to  be  done ;  Crown 
Point  and  Major  Skene's  stone  castle  must  both  be 
ours  to-night.     The  taking  of  the  first  shall  be  yours 


9«iWtt%J6^«ft^  fttMv^  -  i<ioi 


Tlio  Sti'i'ii  of  Arnold's  Fl;Ji>-sliii»,  77/r  li(  rciKjc. 


Joy  of  the  Green  Mountain  Boys         223 

to  perform.  And  after  breakfast  and  a  few  bumpers 
in  honor  of  our  victory,  we  will  despatch  you  for  that 
purpose,  with  a  corps  of  your  own  selection." 

"  Thank  you,  thank  you,  Colonel,"  replied  the  other 
with  a  grateful  smile.  But  the  expedition  to  Skenes- 
boro' — may  I  not  speak  a  word  for  our  friend  Selden!" 

"  Aha !  "  replied  Allen,  laughing,  "  then  this  offer 
to  take  charge  of  the  negro's  letter  had  its  meaning, 
eh?  I  don't  know,  exactly,  about  that  chip  of  a 
British  colonel  for  a  Yankee  patriot.  Now,  yours, 
]\Iajor,  I  acknowledge  to  be  a  true  Cynosure.  But 
his,  I  fear,  will  prove  a  Dog-star.  However,  this  is 
his  own  hunt;  and  as  he  is  a  finished  fellow,  and, 
doubtless,  brave  and  true,  I  think  I  will  give  him 
the  command  of  the  expedition,  unless  claimed  by 
Easton.  But,  hush!  the  commandant  is  about  to  go 
through  the  forms  of  the  surrender.  I  must  away, 
but  will  see  you  again." 

The  brief  ceremonies  of  the  surrender  were  soon 
over;  when,  as  the  fortress  was  pronounced  to  be  in 
full  possession  of  the  conquerors,  the  heavens  were 
again  rent  by  the  reiterated  huzzas  of  the  Green 
Mountain  Boys,  while  British  cannon  were  made  to 
peal  forth  with  their  deep-mouthed  thunders,  to  the 
trembling  hills  and  reverberating  mountains  of  the 
country  around,  the  proclamation  of  victory! — 
the  first  triumph  of  Young  Freedom  over  the  arms 
of  her  haughty  oppressor. 

Two  days  afterwards  Colonel  Seth  Warner  made 
an  easy  conquest  of  Crown  Point. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

CROWN  POINT,  1731    (la  POINTE  DE  LA  CHEVELURE)  — 
FORT    ST.    FREDERIC FORT    AMHERST TERCENTE- 
NARY OF  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  LAKE  CHAMPLAIN 

THE  Crown  Point  of  military  occupation  should 
not  be  confounded  with  the  village  of  Crown 
Point  of  the  present  day.  Crown  Point  village  in 
the  town  of  Crown  Point  is  situated  about  six  miles 
south  of  the  old  fortress.  The  ruins  of  the  fort  which 
is  spoken  of  in  old  gazetteers  as  Crown  Point  Fort- 
ress are  situated  on  a  broad  point  of  land  jutting  down 
into  the  lake  about  two  miles,  forming,  to  the  west, 
Bulwagga  Bay.  This  tract  of  land  is  about  a  mile 
wide  and  on  the  extreme  northern  point  are  the  ruins 
of  old  Fort  St.  Frederic,  built  by  the  French  in 
1731,  who  as  early  as  1689  called  this  spot  La  Pointe 
de  la  Chevelure.  The  significance  of  the  name  is 
not  now  apparent,  but  from  the  definitions  given, 
foliage  of  trees,  hair,  head  of  hair,  perhaps  a  thick 
growth  of  trees  or  bushes,  with  a  luxuriance  of  foli- 
age, may  have  suggested  the  name. 

A  correspondent  of  the  Spofford  Gazetteer  of  1824 
writes  as  follows :  "  It  is  generally  believed  that  the 
ruins  of  Crown  Point  fort,  situated  in  this  town,  was 

the  Fort  St.  Frederic  of  the  French.     This,  I  be- 

224 


Fort  St.  Frederic  225 

lieve,  is  a  mistake.  Fort  St.  Frederic,  built  by  the 
French  in  1731,  was  a  very  inconsiderable  fortress, 
situated  on  the  very  bank  of  the  lake,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  yards  away,  in  a  direction  a  little  south 
of  east,  and  resembled  more  a  redoubt,  or  citadel,  than 
a  regular  built  fort.  It  is  said  to  have  been  blown 
up  by  firing  its  magazine,  and  is  now  (1813)  a  mere 
heap  of  stones."  This  account  says :  "  It  is  situated 
on  a  rock  having  a  strong  citadel  arched  with  stone, 
three  stories  high,  the  walls  thereof  about  seven  feet 
thick,  and  has  four  regular  bastions." 
In  1743  it  had  the  following  armament: 

12  iron    4-pounders    with    marine    carriages    and 

690  Balls. 

1  iron  2-pounder  with  carriage. 

2  small  hand  grenade  mortars,  two  carriages,  and 

200  grenades. 

13  swivels  mounted  on  parapets,  and  31  case-shot, 

and  160  iron  half-pound  balls. 

Its  garrison,  in  April,  1745,  consisted  of  Captain 
de  Noyas,  Lieutenants  Dumot,  De  Boucherville, 
Herbin,  Ensign  de  Millon,  Second  Ensign  de 
Montigny;  five  sergeants  and  eighty-eight  soldiers. 
It  was  provided  with  a  good  supply  of  provi- 
sions and  munitions  of  war.  At  this  period  Fort 
Chambly  on  the  Richelieu  served  as  a  store,  or 
entrepot  for  munitions  destined  for  Fort  St. 
Frederic. 

The  land  on  which  Fort  St.  Frederic  was  erected 
was  claimed  by  the  Mohawks,  and  it  is  said  that  the 
English  remonstrated,  but  did  not  resist  the  occupa- 


226  Fort  St  Frederic 

tion  of  this  point  by  the  French.  It  was  at  this  point 
that  the  raid  on  old  Saratoga,  in  1745,  was  organized, 
also  the  Indian  raid  on  Hoosic  in  1754. 

A  persistent  tradition  seems  to  prevail,  that  pre- 
vious to  the  building  of  the  Fort  St.  Frederic,  in 
1731,  a  village  existed  on  this  point,  which  was  quite 
an  important  trading  post  between  the  whites  and 
the  Indians.  In  its  best  days  it  is  thought  to  have 
had  a  population  of  fifteen  hundred  to  three  thousand, 
but  even  before  French  military  occupation,  it  might 
have  been  an  important  mart  for  the  Indian  trade. 

This  village  is  probably  the  one  destroyed  by 
Rogers's  rangers  on  February  2,  1756.  There  are 
ruins  at  this  point  which  seem  to  be  the  remains  of 
a  village,  with  the  outlines  of  streets  and  cellars  of 
houses,  still  visible. 

In  1755  it  was  reported  to  Vaudreuil  that  Fort  St. 
Frederic  was  threatening  to  fall  on  all  sides  on  ac- 
count of  the  walls  being  too  weak  to  support  the 
terraces. 

Kalm,  the  Swedish  traveller,  in  1750,  is  the  au- 
thority for  the  following  additional  information  in 
regard  to  Fort  St.  Frederic.  He  says  that  the  fort- 
ress was  named  for  Frederic  Maurepas,  French  Sec- 
retary of  State  when  the  fort  was  built.  As  it  was 
the  custom  to  give  the  names  of  saints  to  places  in 
Canada,  it  became  the  custom  to  prefix  names  of  saints 
to  fortresses ;  hence  the  name  Fort  St.  Frederic.  He 
also  says:  "  In  the  terre-plain  of  the  fort  is  a  well- 
built  little  church,  and  houses  of  stone  for  the  officers 
and  soldiers."     He  mentions  also  a  quarry  of  black 


Tercentenary  227 

limestone  about  half  a  mile  from  the  fort  from  which 
the  fort  and  buildings  were  built. 

This  is  the  only  reference  to  an  ancient  church  on 
this  point  that  I  have  seen. 

The  Tercentenary  of  the  Discovery  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  by  Samuel  de  Champlain,  in  July,  1609,  has 
passed  into  history,  as  an  event  well  conceived  and 
well  executed. 

The  ball  was  set  rolling  April  15,  1907,  by  a  bill 
introduced  in  the  Senate  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
by  Hon.  Henry  W.  Hill,  of  Buffalo,  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  a  commission  to  confer  with  commis- 
sioners from  the  State  of  Vermont  and  the  Dominion 
of  Canada  in  relation  to  the  proper  observance  of  the 
Tercentenary  of  the  Discovery  of  Lake  Champlain. 

This  resolution  having  been  adopted,  April  15, 
1907,  a  commission  was  appointed,  conferences  were 
held,  and  a  general  plan  was  suggested.  Afterward, 
in  the  Senate,  1908,  a  bill  was  passed,  and  a  per- 
manent commission  was  appointed,  consisting  of 
M.  Wallin  Knapp  Mooers,  New  York,  chairman; 
John  W.  Hill,  of  Buffalo,  secretarj^;  Walter  C. 
Witherbee,  of  Port  Henry,  treasurer;  J.  Frawley, 
New  York  City;  James  Shea,  of  Lake  Placid;  Wil- 
liam R.  Weaver,  of  Peru;  James  A.  Foley,  of  New 
York  City;  John  H.  Booth,  of  Plattsburg;  James  B. 
Riley,  of  Plattsburg;  Louis  C.  Lafontaine,  of  Cham- 
plain, and  Howland  Pell,  of  New  York  City. 

Under  the  supervision  of  the  above  committee,  a 
series    of    pageants    for   the    week    beginning    Sun- 


228  Tercentenary 

day,  July,  4,  1909,  were  inaugurated,  and  success- 
fully carried  out,  before  immense  multitudes  of 
delighted  spectators.  Appropriate  services  were  held 
in  all  of  the  churches  in  the  Champlain  Valley  on 
July  4th;  formal  exercises  at  Crown  Point  on  July 
5th;  at  Ticonderoga  on  July  6th;  at  Plattsburg  on 
July  7th;  at  Burlington  on  July  8th;  and  at  Isle  La 
3Iotte  on  July  9th;  at  all  of  which  President  Taft, 
Vice-President  Sherman,  Governor  Hughes,  the  Eng- 
lish Ambassador,  James  Brice,  and  the  French  Am- 
bassador, J.  J.  Jusserand,  and  Governor  Prouty  of 
Vermont  made  speeches. 

The  proposed  restoration  of  old  Fort  Ticonde- 
roga, by  ]Mrs.  S.  H.  P.  Pell,  attracted  wide  attention, 
as  the  preservation  of  the  old  ruins  has  been  the  desire 
of  patriots  of  the  Champlain  Valley  and  indeed  of 
many  historical  societies  in  New  York  State.  This 
restoration  Mrs.  Pell  will  be  able  to  accomplish 
through  the  liberality  of  her  father,  Colonel  Robert 
M.  Thompson.  It  is  estimated  the  cost  of  restora- 
tion according  to  the  plans  of  the  architect  will  be 
about  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  complete 
restoration  will  occupy  about  ten  years.  Already  the 
West  Barracks,  the  building  which  was  the  scene  of 
the  dramatic  demand  of  Colonel  Ethan  Allen  for  the 
surrender  of  the  fort.  May  18,  1775,  is  about  com- 
pleted, and  a  little  order  has  been  brought  about,  out 
of  the  chaos  of  the  ruins. 


/ 


be 

53 
o 
H 

o 
O 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE  GRANT — GENERAL  BENEDICT  ARNOLD 

EVACUATION  OF  FORT  TICONDEROGA  BY  GENERAL 

ST.  CLAIR FORT  GEORGE ETHAN  ALLEN 

PREVIOUS  to  the  Revolution,  for  many  years, 
*  the  unfortunate  controversy  called  the  New 
Hampshire  Grants  was  raging  between  New  York, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont,  each  claiming  the 
territory  bordering  on  Lake  Champlain  and  extend- 
ing east  to  the  Connecticut  River.  At  the  period  of 
the  Revolution,  the  settlers  of  that  territorj^  now 
Vermont,  were  aroused  to  resist  the  claim  of  New 
York.  These  men,  armed  and  equipped,  were  called 
"  Green  JVIountain  Boys."  This  band,  although  very 
bitter  against  the  counter-claims  of  the  New  Yorkers, 
were  earnest  patriots,  and  during  the  coming  cam- 
paign did  yeoman's  service  in  the  Continental  army; 
although  their  leaders,  Ethan  Allen,  Seth  Warner, 
Remember  Baker,  and  others,  were  outlawed  by  Gov- 
ernor Tryon,  and  ordered  to  surrender,  "  under  pain 
of  conviction  of  felony  and  death  without  benefit  of 
clergy,  within  thirty  days."  A  bounty  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds  was  offered  for  the  capture  of 

Ethan  Allen,  and  fifty  pounds  for  each  of  the  others. 

229 


230  Old  Fort  George 

The  Vermont  leaders  retorted  by  offering  a  reward  for 
the  capture  of  the  Attorney-General  of  New  York. 

The  beginning  of  the  Revolution  caused  a  sus- 
pension of  the  controversy.  This  was  finally  settled 
by  the  State  of  Vermont  paying  the  State  of  New 
York  thirty  thousand  dollars  for  territory  claimed  by 
that  State. 

During  an  early  visit  to  Lake  George  I  was  told 
that  one  of  the  interesting  historic  sites  was  the  ruins 
of  old  Fort  George.  "When  was  it  ruined?"  I 
asked ;  and  the  answer  was  invariably,  "  I  don't 
know."  I  then  asked  what  battle  was  fought  there; 
and  the  answer  came  "  I  don't  know."  Subsequent 
visits  and  inquiries  elicited  the  same  answer,  "  I  don't 
know." 

I  began  to  dub  it,  "  Mysterious  Fort  George." 
However,  I  always  visited  the  place,  east  of  the  road 
to  Fort  Edward,  and  found  evidence  of  a  small  ruin 
that  looked  more  like  a  dilapidated  lime-kiln  than  a  re- 
nowned fort,  the  name  of  which  one  was  always  seeing 
in  the  annals  of  the  French  and  Indian  and  Revolu- 
tionary wars.  Some  one  has  said  that  the  quickest  way 
to  do  a  thing  is  to  "do  it."  Hence  the  task,  for  in- 
formation in  regard  to  old  Fort  George.  One  of  the 
first  things  that  I  discovered  was  that  there  were  three 
forts  called  Fort  George,  one  in  New  York  City,  one 
on  Lake  George,  and  one,  during  the  war  of  1812-14, 
in  Ontario,  near  Niagara. 

In  the  New  York  State  Library  are  many  maps 
of   English   forts   in   the    Champlain   and   Mohawk 


Old  Fort  George  231 

valleys.  One  of  them  delineates  Fort  William  Henry 
and  its  surroundings.  To  the  east  of  Fort  William 
Henry  is  a  broad  point  of  land  nearly  surrounded 
by  the  swamp.  On  this  point,  which  is  higher  ground, 
are  traced  the  lines  of  an  entrenchment,  but  no  fort. 
It  was  on  this  higher  ground,  to  the  west  of  the  Fort 
Edward  road,  that  Sir  William  Johnson  met  and 
defeated  Baron  Dieskau,  in  September,  1755. 

On  another  map  (Rocque),  evidently  made  by  an 
engineer,  is  shown  this  entrenchment,  inside  of  which 
is  the  plan  of  a  fort  that  is  to  be  built,  the  general 
plan  of  which  is  the  same  as  that  of  Fort  William 
Henry,  that  is,  a  square  with  bastions  at  each  comer. 
This  map  shows  one  bastion  nearly  completed.  This 
plan  is  marked:  "  Fort  George  as  far  as  built,  1759, 
by  Rocque." 

So  Fort  George  at  the  siege  of  Fort  William 
Henry,  1757,  consisted  of  entrenchments  only. 
Afterwards,  that  is  in  1758-59,  the  fort  w^as  begun, 
but  only  one  bastion  (the  southwest  corner)  was 
built  but  not  entirely  completed. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  soldiers  and  others 
who  were  not  needed  to  man  the  guns  of  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry  were  encamped  in  the  entrenchments  of 
*'  Fort  George,"  which  was  designed  but  never 
completed. 

I  will  also  say  that  the  French  in  1757  persistently 
called  the  fortification  of  Fort  William  Henry,  Fort 
Georges. 

In  Holden's  History  of  Queenshury  (1873)  I  have 
found  much  interesting  material  relating  to  the  upper 


232  Old  Fort  George 

Hudson  Valley  and  Lake  George  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. He  says  that  on  the  12th  of  July,  1766,  Gates 
assumed  the  command  of  the  northern  army,  making 
his  headquarters  at  Ticonderoga.  His  first  attention 
was  directed  to  the  disposal  and  care  of  the  hundreds 
of  invalid  troops,  then  pouring  back  from  Canada,  a 
large  proportion  of  whom  were  suffering  from  small- 
pox. In  order  to  care  for  them  properly,  a  general 
hospital  was  established  at  Fort  George,  where 
there  were  soon  between  two  and  three  thousand  sick, 
and  where  everj'^  soldier  infected  was  immediately 
sent. 

A  spacious  building  was  at  this  time  erected  for 
the  purpose  of  a  hospital  on  the  flat  below  the  out- 
works of  "  Fort  George."  In  addition,  tents  were 
put  up.  This  hospital  was  in  charge  of  Dr. 
Jonathan  Potts. 

Fort  George  is  said  to  have  been  destroyed  on  July 
16,  1777. 

General  Philip  Schuyler  states: 

"  The  fort  was  part  of  an  unfinished  bastion  of  an 
intended  fortification.  The  bastion  was  closed  at  the 
gorge.  In  it  was  a  barrack  capable  of  containing 
between  thirty  and  fifty  men,  without  ditch,  without 
wall,  without  cistern;  without  a  picket  to  prevent  an 
enemy  from  running  over  the  wall;  so  small  as  not 
to  contain  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  com- 
manded by  ground  greatly  overlooking  it  and  within 
point-blank  shot,  and  so  situated  that  five  hundred 
men  may  lie  between  the  bastion  and  the  lake,  without 
danger  from  the  fort." 


o 


c3 


Benedict  Arnold  233 

Shakespeare  makes  Mark  Antony  say: 

"The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them; 
The  good  is  oft  interred  with  their  bones." 

Do  not  think  that  I  am  posing  as  an  apologist  for 
the  arch-traitor  Benedict  Arnold,  but  in  reading  the 
above  quotation  I  have  wondered  if  it  is  true.  If 
so,  it  is  not  in  accordance  with  the  teaching  of  Christ. 
It  is  human,  not  divine. 

However,  it  is  the  one  false  note  of  the  Casta  Diva, 
the  rift  in  the  lute,  that  is  remembered.  It  is  by  that 
one  false  note  that  we  are  judged,  all  else  forgotten. 
All  that  is  beautiful  in  the  song  of  the  Diva  is  for- 
gotten, all  that  is  noble  in  one's  life  will  not  outweigh 
the  one  false  note,  the  one  false  step.  This  also  is 
human,  not  divine. 

Benedict  Arnold  was  born  in  Norwich,  Connecti- 
cut, January  14,  1741.  As  a  boy  he  was  bold,  mis- 
chievous, fiery,  pugnacious.  Apprenticed  to  an 
apothecary,  he  ran  away  and  enlisted  as  a  soldier, 
but  deserted.  For  four  years  he  was  a  bookseller 
and  druggist  in  New  Haven,  and  afterwards  mas- 
ter and  supercargo  of  a  vessel  trading  to  the 
AVest  Indies.  Immediately  after  the  affair  at  Lex- 
ington, he  raised  a  company  and  marched  to 
Cambridge. 

His  conduct  at  Fort  Ticonderoga  is  worthy  of  all 
praise.  His  generous  conduct  in  yielding  the  com- 
mand to  Ethan  Allen,  that  was  undoubtedly  his  by 


234  Benedict  Arnold 

right  of  lawful  authority,  his  patriotism  in  following 
Allen  as  a  common  soldier,  and  his  bravery  and  in- 
domitable perseverance  at  the  first  naval  battle  on 
Lake  Champlain,  were  acts  which  alone  should  have 
made  him  a  hero. 

You  will  remember  the  gathering  of  material  and 
of  artisans  for  the  construction  of  a  small  navy.  You 
will  recall  how  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the 
Americans  constructed  and  manned  one  sloop  of 
twelve  guns,  one  schooner  of  the  same  number  of 
guns  and  two  of  eight  each,  five  gondolas  of  three 
guns  each,  and  how  about  the  middle  of  August  they 
sailed  for  Rouse  Point,  to  act  only  on  the  defensive. 
Convinced  that  his  position  was  dangerous,  Arnold 
fell  back  about  ten  miles  to  Isle  La  Motte.  Here 
his  fleet  was  considerably  increased,  and  consisted  of 
three  schooners,  two  sloops,  three  galleys,  eight  gon- 
dolas, and  twenty-one  gun-boats.  The  English  out- 
numbered the  Americans  and  defeat  was  expected, 
and  realized.  Arnold  was  on  the  galley  Congress,  and 
conducted  matters  with  great  bravery  and  skill. 
About  one  o'clock  the  engagement  became  general 
and  the  American  vessels,  particularly  the  Congress, 
suffered  severely.  It  was  hulled  twelve  times,  re- 
ceived seven  shots  between  wind  and  water,  the 
mainmast  w^as  shattered  in  two  places,  the  rigging 
cut  to  pieces,  and  many  of  the  crew  killed  and 
wounded.  Arnold  pointed  almost  every  gun  on  his 
vessel  with  his  own  hands,  and  with  voice  and  gesture 
cheered  on  his  men.  Night  closed  on  the  scene, 
Arnold  held  a  council  with  his  officers,  and  on  account 


Arnold's  Battle  235 

of  the  superiority  of  the  British  vessels  it  was  de- 
termined to  retire  up  the  lake.  Anticipating  such  a 
movement  on  the  part  of  the  Americans,  the  British 
commander  anchored  his  vessels  in  a  line  extending 
from  the  island  to  the  mainland.  It  being  a  dark 
night,  however,  Arnold  succeeded  in  getting  his 
whole  flotilla  through  the  English  line  without  being 
observed. 

At  daybreak  the  English  gave  chase.  Early  on 
the  morning  of  October  13th  the  British  vessels  drew 
near  and  engaged  the  American  vessels,  the  Congress 
and  Washington,  and  four  gondolas.  After  a  very 
destructive  fire  from  the  British,  the  Washington 
struck,  and  the  commander,  General  Waterbury,  and 
his  men  were  made  prisoners.  The  whole  force  of 
the  attack  now  fell  on  the  "  flag-ship,"  the  Congress, 
but  Arnold  maintained  his  ground  unflinchingly  for 
four  hours.  The  galley  was  reduced  almost  to  a 
wreck,  and  was  surrounded  by  seven  sail  of  the  enemy. 
Longer  resistance  was  in  vain,  and  the  intrepid  Ar- 
nold ran  the  galley  and  four  gondolas  into  a  small 
creek  on  the  east  side  of  the  lake,  about  ten  miles 
below  Crown  Point,  not  far  below  Paton.  He 
ordered  the  marines  to  set  them  on  fire  as  soon  as 
they  were  grounded,  to  leap  into  the  water  and  to 
wade  ashore  with  their  muskets,  and  form  in  such  a 
manner  on  the  beach  as  to  guard  the  burning  ves- 
sels from  the  approach  of  the  enemy.  Arnold  re- 
mained in  his  galley  until  driven  off  by  the  fire.  He 
kept  the  flags  flying,  and  remained  on  the  spot  until 
the  little  flotilla  was  consumed.     Afterwards  he  made 


236  Vices  and  Virtues 

his  way  to  Crown  Point,  his  celerity  of  movement 
enabHng  him  to  escape  an  ambush  of  Indians,  who 
had  been  sent  forward  for  that  purpose. 

His  march  through  the  wilderness  of  Maine  to 
Quebec,  undertaken  at  a  season  when  such  a  journey 
would  entail  great  suffering,  deserves  praise  for  the 
energy  and  intrepidity  with  which  it  was  conducted. 
His  bravery  at  Saratoga  enabled  General  Gates  to 
complete  the  downfall  of  Burgoyne.  You  will  also 
remember  his  hurried  march  from  Albany  to  Fort 
Schuyler,  which  created  a  panic  in  St.  Leger's  army, 
and  his  rapid  return  to  take  part  in  the  defeat  of 
Burgoyne,  and  his  anger  when  he  found  younger 
officers  promoted  over  him. 

It  seems  as  though  up  to  that  time  he  had  been  a 
brave  soldier  and  a  patriot.  Soon  came  the  final 
act,  the  rift  in  the  lute  which  has  made  his  name 
execrated  throughout  the  world  and  has  branded  him 
with  the  word  traitor.  Itemizing  his  virtues  and  his 
vices,  we  find  that  the  former  outweigh  the  latter. 
Virtues  Vices 

Ambitious  Ambitious 

Brave  to  rashness  Jealous 

Courageous  Vindictive 

Intrepid  Treacherous 

Generous 
Patriotic 
Self-sacrificing 

Arnold  assumed  command  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 
the  moment  the  fort  surrendered  (Maj^  10,  1775)  but 


Ethan  Allen  in  Prison  237 

his  orders  were  not  heeded  and  in  a  few  days  Colonel 
Ethan  Allen  was  formally  installed  and  authorized 
to  remain  subject  to  the  orders  of  the  Continental 
Congress.  Allen  was  soon  sent  to  Canada  (Sep- 
tember 24,  1775)  and  engaged  in  an  attempt  to  cap- 
ture Montreal,  an  attempt  which  resulted  in  his 
defeat  and  capture.  When  Allen  and  his  few  com- 
panions were  delivered  into  the  custody  of  the  British 
General  Prescott,  they  experienced  most  brutal  treat- 
ment. On  learning,  by  conversation  with  Allen,  that 
he  was  the  man  who  captured  Ticonderoga,  the  Gen- 
eral threatened  him  with  the  halter  and  ordered  him 
placed  in  irons  on  board  of  a  Gaspe  war-schooner. 
A  bar  of  iron  eight  feet  long  was  attached  to  his 
shackles,  and  with  his  fellow-prisoners,  who  were 
fastened  in  pairs  with  handcuffs,  he  was  thrust  into 
the  lowest  part  of  the  ship,  where  neither  seat  nor 
bed  was  allowed  them. 

He  remained  five  weeks  in  irons,  and  was  finally 
transferred  to  another  vessel,  where  he  received  better 
treatment,  subsequently  being  sent  to  England  to  be 
tried  for  treason.  Arriving  in  England  he  was  con- 
fined for  a  time  in  Pendennis  Castle,  near  Falmouth. 
He  was  sent  to  Halifax  in  the  spring  of  1776,  where 
he  was  confined  in  jail  till  the  autumn;  from  there 
to  New  York,  then  in  possession  of  the  British. 
There  he  was  detained  another  year  and  a  half  but 
was  finally  released  in  May,  1778. 

He  died  at  Colchester,  Vermont,  February  13,  1789. 

While  Allen  and  Arnold  were  still  rival  command- 
ers at  Ticonderoga,  Arnold  had  some  influence  over 


238       Arnold's  Expedition  to  St.  John's 

the  soldiers  he  had  enlisted.  A  portion  of  these 
troops  had  passed  through  Skenesboro,  capturing 
Major  Skene  and  his  Tory  retainers  together  with 
a  small  schooner.  Colonel  Arnold  immediately  armed 
the  schooner  and  proceeded  to  St.  John's  on  the  Sorel 
River  (now  Richelieu)  where  there  was  a  king's  sloop- 
of-war  mounting  sixteen  guns,  and  a  supply  of  pro- 
visions. The  fort  at  St.  John's  was  surprised,  the 
garrison  captured,  and  the  sloop  supplied  with  pro- 
visions seized;  five  bateaux  were  destroyed  and  four 
more  captured,  whereupon  Arnold  returned  to  Ticon- 
deroga  fort. 

Thus  in  a  few  days,  a  handful  of  undisciplined  men, 
with  small  arms  only  and  without  a  single  bayonet,  in 
a  series  of  exploits  and  without  the  loss  of  a  single 
man,  had  secured  that  which  had  cost  the  mother 
country  a  succession  of  campaigns,  the  sacrifice  of 
many  lives  and  an  outlay  of  eight  millions  sterling; 
furnishing  at  the  same  time  military  supplies  of 
great  value  to  the  infant  cause  of  freedom,  and  se- 
curing the  great  highway  leading  to  his  Majesty's 
Canadian  dominions. 

On  the  18th  of  July,  1775,  General  Philip  Schuyler 
assumed  command  at  Ticonderoga,  but  in  September 
went  on  an  expedition  to  Canada. 

In  June,  1777,  this  fort  was  garrisoned  by  about 
two  thousand  half-armed  men  and  boys  under  com- 
mand of  General  Arthur  St.  Clair,  who,  although  a 
British  soldier,  had  espoused  the  cause  of  the  patriots. 
There  were  strong  outposts  around  Ticonderoga,  but 
St.  Clair  did  not  have  men  enough  to  man  them. 


Old  Firoplaoes,   Fort  Aiulicisl,   Crown   Point. 


General  Arthur  St.  Clair  239 

General  Burgoyne  with  a  force  of  ten  thousand 
men  and  a  splendid  train  of  artillery  had  occupied 
Crown  Point  after  having  driven  out  a  small  garri- 
son of  Americans. 

The  following  account  is  taken  from  The  History 
of  New  York  by  James  Macauley  (1829)  : 

"But,  notwithstanding  the  apparent  strength  of 
Ticonderoga,  it  was  effectually  overlooked  and  com- 
manded by  a  portion  of  the  Palmertown  Mountain, 
called  by  some  Sugar  Hill,  and  b}^  others  Mount 
Defiance.  This  mountain,  by  its  proximity  and 
elevation,  had  such  an  entire  command  both  of  Ticon- 
deroga and  Mount  Independence,  that  an  enemy 
might,  from  thence,  have  counted  the  numbers,  and 
enfiladed  every  part  of  the  works.  This  circum- 
stance was  well  known  to  the  American  officers,  and 
they  had  a  consultation  about  fortifying  this  moun- 
tain; but  it  was  declined,  because  their  works  were 
already  so  extensive  that,  with  the  addition  of  what 
would  be  proper  on  INIount  Defiance,  they  would 
require  ten  or  twelve  thousand  men  for  the  defence, 
a  much  greater  number  than  were  there  then.  In- 
stead of  a  full  complement  of  troops  to  man  the  ex- 
tensive lines,  and  defend  the  numerous  works,  the 
whole  force  which  General  St.  Clair  had,  did  not 
exceed  three  thousand  five  hundred  men,  including 
militia,  and  these  not  well  armed. 

"  From  Crown  Point,  the  British  army  advanced 
on  both  sides  of  the  lake;  the  naval  force  keeping 
its  station  in  the  centre,  the  frigate  and  gun-boats 
cast  anchor  just  out  of  cannon  shot  from  the  Ameri- 


240        Evacuation  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

can  works.  On  the  near  approach  of  the  right  wing, 
which  advanced  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  on  the 
2d  of  July,  the  Americans  abandoned,  and  set  fire 
to  their  works,  block-houses  and  saw-mills,  towards 
Lake  George;  and  without  attempting  any  serious 
opposition,  suffered  General  Phillips  to  take  posses- 
sion of  Mount  Hope.  This  post  commanded  the 
American  lines  in  a  great  degree,  and  cut  off  their 
communication  with  Lake  George.  The  enemy 
charged  the  Americans,  on  this  occasion,  with  supine- 
ness  and  want  of  vigor;  but  this  charge  seems  not 
well  founded;  they  had  not  enough  men  to  make  any 
effectual  opposition  to  the  powerful  force  which 
threatened  to  enclose  them. 

"  In  the  meantime,  the  British  army  proceeded  with 
such  expedition,  in  the  construction  of  their  works, 
the  bringing  up  of  their  artillery,  stores,  and  pro- 
visions, and  the  establishment  of  posts  and  communi- 
cations, that  by  the  fifth,  matters  were  so  far 
advanced  as  to  require  but  one  or  two  days  more 
to  completely  invest  the  posts  on  both  sides  of  the 
lake.  Mount  Defiance  had  also  been  examined,  and 
the  advantages  which  it  presented  were  so  important, 
that  it  had  been  determined  to  take  possession,  and 
erect  a  battery  there.  This  work,  though  attended 
with  extreme  difficulty  and  labor,  had  been  carried  on 
by  General  Phillips  with  much  expedition  and  suc- 
cess. A  road  had  been  made  over  very  rough  ground, 
to  the  top  of  the  mount ;  and  the  enemy  were  at  work 
in  constructing  a  level  for  a  battery,  and  transporting 
their  cannon.     As  soon  as  this  battery  should  be  ready 


Evacuation  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         241 

to  play,  the  American  works  would  have  been  com- 
pletely invested  on  all  sides. 

"  The  situation  of  General  St.  Clair  was  now  very 
critical.  He  called  a  council  of  war,  to  deliberate 
on  measures  to  be  taken.  He  informed  them,  that 
their  whole  effective  number  was  not  sufficient  to 
man  one  half  of  the  works;  that  as  the  whole  must 
be  constantly  on  duty,  it  would  be  impossible  for 
them  to  endure  the  fatigue  for  any  considerable 
length  of  time;  that  General  Schuyler,  who  was  then 
at  Fort  Edward,  had  not  sufficient  forces  to  relieve 
them;  and  that,  as  the  enemy's  batteries  were  nearly 
ready  to  open  upon  them,  and  the  place  would  be  com- 
pletely invested  in  twenty-four  hours,  nothing  could 
save  the  troops  but  an  immediate  evacuation  of  the 
posts. 

"  It  was  proposed  that  the  baggage  of  the  army, 
with  such  artillery  stores  and  provisions  as  the  neces- 
sity of  the  occasion  would  admit,  should  be  embarked 
with  a  strong  detachment  on  board  of  two  hundred 
bateaux  and  despatched,  under  convoy  of  five  armed 
galleys,  up  the  lake  to  Skenesboro  (Whitehall) 
and  that  the  main  body  of  the  army  should  proceed 
by  land,  taking  its  route  on  the  road  to  Castleton, 
which  was  about  thirty  miles  southeast  of  Ticonde- 
roga, and  join  the  boats  and  galleys  at  Skenes- 
boro. It  was  thought  necessaiy  to  keep  the 
matter  a  secret  till  the  time  should  come  when 
it  was  to  be  executed.  Hence,  the  necessary  pre- 
parations could  not  be  made,  and  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to    prevent    irregularity    and    disorder,    in    the 


242        Evacuation  of  Fort  Ticonderoga 

different  embarkations  and  movements  of  the 
troops. 

"  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  July  the 
sixth,  General  St.  Clair  left  Ticonderoga,  and  about 
three,  the  troops  at  Mount  Independence  were  put 
in  motion.  The  house  which  had  been  occupied  by 
General  de  Fermoy  was,  contrary  to  orders,  set  on 
fire.  This  afforded  complete  information  to  the 
enemy  of  what  was  going  forward,  and  enabled  them 
to  see  every  movement  of  the  Americans ;  at  the  same 
time,  it  impressed  the  latter  with  such  an  idea  of  dis- 
covery and  danger,  as  precipitated  them  into  great 
disorder.  About  four  o'clock,  Colonel  Francis  brought 
off  the  rear-guard,  and  conducted  their  retreat  in  a 
regular  manner;  and  soon  after  some  of  the  regi- 
ments, through  the  exertions  of  their  officers,  recov- 
ered from  their  confusion.  When  the  troops  arrived 
at  Hubbardton  they  were  halted  for  nearly  two  hours, 
and  the  rear-guard  was  increased  by  many  who  did 
not  at  first  belong  to  it,  but  were  picked  up  on  the 
road,  having  been  unable  to  keep  up  with  their  regi- 
ments. The  rear-guard  was  here  put  under  the  com- 
mand of  Colonel  Seth  Warner,  with  orders  to  follow 
the  army,  as  soon  as  the  whole  came  up,  and  to  halt 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  short  of  the  main  body.  The 
army  then  proceeded  to  Castleton,  about  six  miles 
farther — Colonel  Warner,  with  the  rear-guard  and 
stragglers,  remaining  at  Hubbardton. 

"  The  retreat  of  the  Americans  from  Ticonderoga 
and  Mount  Independence  was  no  sooner  perceived 
by  the  British,  than  General  Fraser  began  an  eager 


Evacuation  of  Fort  Ticonderoga         243 

pursuit  with  his  brigade.  Major-General  Riedesel 
was  ordered  to  join  in  the  pursuit  with  the  greater 
part  of  his  Germans.  General  Fraser  continued  the 
pursuit  through  the  day,  and  having  received  intel- 
ligence that  the  rear  of  the  American  anny  was  at 
no  great  distance,  ordered  his  men  to  lie  that  night 
upon  their  arms.  On  July  seventh,  at  five  in  the 
morning,  he  came  up  w^th  Colonel  Warner,  who  had 
about  one  thousand  men.  The  British  advanced 
boldly  to  the  attack,  and  the  two  bodies  formed  within 
sixty  yards  of  each  other.  The  conflict  was  fierce 
and  bloody.  Colonel  Francis  fell  at  the  head  of  his 
regiment,  fighting  with  great  gallantry.  Warner 
was  so  well  supported  by  his  officers  and  men,  that 
the  assailants  broke  and  gave  way.  They  soon,  how- 
ever, recovered  from  their  disorder,  formed  again  and 
charged  the  Americans  with  the  bayonet,  when  they, 
in  their  turn,  were  put  into  disorder;  these,  however, 
rallied  and  returned  to  the  charge,  and  the  issue  of 
the  battle  became  dubious.  At  that  moment  General 
Riedesel  appeared  with  the  advance  party  of  his  Ger- 
mans. These  being  led  into  action,  soon  decided  the 
fortune  of  the  day,  and  the  Americans  had  to  retreat. 
The  loss,  in  this  action,  was  very  considerable  on  the 
American  side.  Colonel  Hale,  who  had  not  brought 
his  regiment,  which  consisted  of  militia,  into  action, 
although  ordered  so  to  do,  in  attempting  to  escape 
by  flight,  fell  in  with  an  inconsiderable  party  of  the 
enemy,  and  surrendered  himself,  and  a  number  of  his 
men,  prisoners.  In  killed,  wounded,  and  prisoners, 
the  Americans  lost  in  this  action  three  hundred  and 


244  Retreat  of  the  Americans 

twenty-four  men,  and  the  British  one  hundred  and 
eighty-three  in  killed  and  wounded. 

"  Confiding  in  General  Fraser  to  conduct  the  pur- 
suit of  the  Americans  by  land,  General  Burgoyne 
undertook  to  direct  the  chase  by  Avater.  The  boom, 
and  other  obstructions  to  the  navigation  of  the  lake, 
not  being  completed,  were  soon  cut  through;  and  so 
engaged  w^ere  the  British  in  this  business,  that  by 
nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  the  gun-boats,  the  Royal 
George  and  Inflexible  frigates  had  passed  the  works. 
Several  regiments  embarked  aboard  the  vessels  and 
transports,  and  the  pursuit  was  pushed  with  such 
vigor,  that  by  three  in  the  afternoon,  the  foremost 
brigade  of  gun-boats  overtook  and  engaged  with  the 
American  galleys  near  Skenesboro  (Whitehall). 
Upon  the  approach  of  the  frigates,  all  opposition 
ceased;  two  of  the  galleys  were  taken,  and  the  other 
three  blown  up.  The  Americans,  not  being  in  suffi- 
cient force  to  make  a  stand,  set  fire  to  the  bateaux, 
mills,  fort,  and  w^orks,  and  retired  tow^ards  Fort  Ann, 
where  they  were  joined  by  a  detachment  which  had 
been  sent  by  General  Schuyler  from  Fort  Edward. 
This  party  of  Americans  was  commanded  by  Colonel 
Long.  In  the  meantime,  Colonel  Hill  was  detached 
by  General  Burgoyne,  with  the  ninth  regiment,  to- 
wards Fort  Ann;  he  was  attacked  by  the  Americans 
under  Colonel  Long,  in  front,  with  a  heavy  and  well- 
directed  fire;  while  another  party  was  preparing  to 
fall  on  the  rear.  Colonel  Hill,  aware  of  his  danger, 
retired  to  a  hill  to  prevent  being  surrounded,  and  in 
this  situation  was  vigorously  attacked  by  such  num- 


(V 


Retreat  of  the  Americans  245 

bers,  that  he  was  in  danger  of  being  cut  to  pieces. 
At  this  critical  juncture,  a  reinforcement  arrived, 
which  rendered  it  necessary  for  Colonel  Long  to 
retire.  On  leaving  Fort  Ann,  he  set  fire  to  the  works 
and  made  good  his  retreat  to  Fort  Edward. 

General  St.  Clair  received  intelligence  of  the  dis- 
aster at  Skenesboro,  about  the  same  time  that  news 
came  to  him  of  Warner's  defeat.  To  avoid  the 
enemy,  it  was  now  necessary  for  him  to  change  his 
route,  and  he  sent  orders  to  Colonel  Warner,  to  join 
him  at  Hutland.  Here  he  fell  in  with  many  soldiers, 
who  had  been  separated  from  the  army,  and  two  days 
afterwards  he  was  joined  by  Colonel  Warner,  at  the 
head  of  about  ninety  men.  After  despatching  officers 
to  Bennington  and  other  places,  to  stop  and  collect 
the  stragglers,  he  proceeded  to  join  General  Schuyler 
at  Fort  Edward. 

"  The  loss  sustained  by  the  Americans,  in  their  re- 
treat from  Ticonderoga  and  Mount  Independence, 
was  very  heavy — one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
pieces  of  cannon,  349,760  pounds  of  flour,  143,830 
pounds  of  salt  provisions,  a  large  drove  of  cattle,  and 
their  bateaux,  vessels,  and  magazines." 

While  Burgoyne  was  pressing  south  towards  Al- 
bany, General  Lincoln  attempted  to  recover  Ticon- 
deroga and  other  posts  in  the  rear  of  the  invaders. 
On  September  13,  1777,  he  detailed  Colonel  John 
Brown  with  five  hundred  men  for  that  purpose. 
Brown  captured  all  of  the  British  outposts  between 
the  landing  place  at  the  north  end  of  Lake  George 
and  the  main  fortress  at  Ticonderoga.     Mount  Hope, 


246  Colonel  John  Brown 

Mount  Defiance,  the  French  lines  and  a  block-house, 
with  an  armed  sloop,  two  hundred  bateaux,  several 
gun-boats,  fell  into  his  hands.  He  also  captured  two 
hundred  and  ninety-three  prisoners  and  released  one 
hundred  American  prisoners.  He  then  attacked  the 
main  fortress,  but,  its  walls  proving  impregnable  to 
his  guns,  he  withdrew  and  sailed  up  the  lake  to  Dia- 
mond Island,  w^hich  he  attacked  and  from  which  he 
was  repulsed,  as  told  before. 

After  the  defeat  of  General  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga 
the  British  garrison  at  Fort  Ticonderoga  retreated  to 
Canada,  but  in  1780  it  was  occupied  again  by  the 
British  General  Haldiman  for  a  short  period;  but 
the  last  battle  had  been  fought  around  that  old  war- 
stained  fortress. 


s 


CHAPTER  XIX 

TICONDEROGA,   1689-1758 ^TICONDEROGA  TO-DAY 

WHEN  an  Indian  name  is  given  to  a  town,  river, 
or  lake  almost  the  first  question  asked  is, 
"  What  is  its  definition,  what  does  it  signify  in  the 
Indian  language?" 

There  are  so  many  names  that  are  beautiful,  that 
have  a  meaning  which  is  poetical,  that  we  are  apt  to 
expect  a  poetic  meaning  in  all  Indian  names.  Many, 
however,  have  definitions  that  are  strictly  European, 
the  Indian  meaning  having  been  lost. 

The  word  Ti-con-de-ro-ga  is  one  of  them.  It  is 
said  to  mean  "  brawling  waters  "  or  "  falling  waters." 
This  is  strictly  white  man's  Indian.  It  is  true  that 
the  falls  in  the  vicinity  have  suggested  the  French 
term  "  Carillon,"  but  we  do  not  hear  of  this  name 
until  after  1750,  whereas  Major  Peter  Schuyler  in 
July,  1691,  gives  the  name  as  Chinanderoga  and 
Cheonderoga.  The  Hollanders  wrote  Indian  words 
as  they  sounded  to  them  when  pronounced  by  the 
Mohawks.  The  spelling  of  the  word  in  1755  seems 
to  have  been  Te-con-der-o-ga,  which  would  conform 
to  the  pronunciation  of  the  word  as  written  by  Major 
Schuyler.  Horatio  Hale  and  E.  M.  Ruttenber  state 
that  the  word  means,  "  between  two  lakes";  Ruttenber 

247 


248  Ticonderoga 

also  gives  the  definition  of  another  Mohawk  name, 
which  was  applied  to  the  first  Mohawk  castle  or  vil- 
lage, Ti-on-on-de-ro-ga,  which,  being  from  the  same 
root,  means  "  between  two  mountains  "  or  in  a  valley. 

In  Major  Peter  Schuyler's  journal  of  his  expedi- 
tion to  Canada  in  1691,  we  find  the  following  para- 
graph: "July  16,  1691,  three  of  our  canoes  being 
broken,  I  sent  three  Christians  and  one  Indian  to  the 
end  of  Lake  Sackraman,  where  our  Mohawks  are 
making  canoes,  to  acquaint  them  that  I  will  meet 
them  at  Chinanderoga.  July  19,  1691,  we  broke 
up  from  Chinanderoga,  and  advanced  to  the  Crown 
Point,  twenty  miles  distant." 

Carillon,  a  French  word  meaning  chimes  or  bells 
was,  for  a  brief  period,  applied  to  the  original  en- 
trenchments at  this  point  (1755-56).  A  little  later 
we  have  Fort  Vaudreuil,  named  for  the  Governor 
of  Montreal,  Marquis  Philip  Rigaud  Vaudreuil, 
who  caused  the  fortification  to  be  constmcted  by 
Lotbiniere,  a  French  engineer. 

In  February,  1756,  Vaudreuil  writes  that  in  order 
to  defend  Fort  St.  Frederic  at  Crown  Point,  he 
was  busy  in  fortifjang  the  post  of  "  Carillon."  "  Al- 
ready twelve  cannon,  eight  swivels,  and  four  hand- 
grenade  mortars  are  there;  since  the  close  of  May, 
two  thousand  men  were  stationed  there."  Vau- 
dreuil also  reports  that  he  had  taken  possession  of 
the  "  little  carrying  place  of  Lake  Sacrament," 
which  he  had  secured  by  a  strong  entrenchment  very 
well  situated  and  flanked  by  two  bastions  and  con- 
taining six  hundred  and  seventy  men    (Fort  Vau- 


X    — 


Ticonderoga  249 

dreuil) .  He  had  also  established  a  post  between  Fort 
Carillon  and  this  entrenchment  to  facilitate,  in  case 
of  necessity,  the  retreat  of  the  camp  at  the  carrying 
place  and  to  keep  it  open.  This  is  probably  a 
reference  to  the  earthworks  now  known  as  the  old 
French  entrenchment. 

The  following  is  a  description  of  Fort  Carillon  in 
1758,  by  Engineer-in-Chief  Pont  le  Roy: 

"  This  fort  is  built  on  a  rock  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  river  of  the  Falls,  commanding  its  outlet  into  the 
lake.  It  is  an  irregular  square,  the  long  sides  of 
which  are  fifty-four  toises  (a  toise  is  about  six  feet)  ; 
its  lining  (revetment)  consists  of  squared  pieces  of 
oak  laid  one  on  the  other,  bound  by  travesines  (tran- 
soms) ;  its  periphery  is  pierced  with  embrasures  hned 
w'ith  oak  timber  and  directed  towards  different  parts 
of  the  exterior  ground.  Only  one  or  two  guns  can 
be  opposed  from  the  fort  against  all  the  batteries 
constructed  by  the  enemy. 

"  The  ramparts  are  but  fourteen  feet  wide,  and  the 
platforms  consequently  so  short  that  the  recoil  at 
each  discharge  makes  the  gun  run  off. 

"  The  bastions  are  casemated  and  serve  as  bakery, 
cistern,  powder  magazine,  and  provisions.  The  case- 
mate under  the  curtain  of  the  entrance,  which  may 
serve  to  lodge  the  garrison,  is  only  twelve  feet  wide 
by  six  feet  high,  extremely  damp,  the  roof  consisting 
of  beams  laid  side  by  side  covered  with  four  or  five 
feet  of  earth. 

"  The  place  of  arms  is  only  one  hundred  feet  long 
by  fifty  feet  wide. 


250  Ticonderoga 

"  The  foundation  is  solid  rock,  the  buildings  for 
civilians  are  of  stone  and  two  stories  high.  The  roofs 
overtop  entirely  the  parapets  of  the  rampart.  The 
shot  and  shell  directed  against  these  buildings  would 
prevent,  by  their  explosion,  the  appearance  of  the 
garrison  either  on  the  place  of  arms  or  on  the  rampart. 

"  The  great  number  of  embrasures  exclude  the  use 
of  musketry,  the  only  means,  nevertheless,  of  defend- 
ing the  place. 

"  All  the  storehouses  and  sheds  necessary  for  the 
use  of  the  garrison  are  outside  the  place,  encircled  by 
a  palisade." 

The  engineer  remarks :  "  It  will  be  seen  how  little 
susceptible  of  defence  this  fort  is.  Yet  it  is  the  only 
W'Ork  that  covers  Lake  Champlain,  and  consequently 
the  colony  of  New  France.  Were  I  entrusted  with 
the  siege  of  it,  I  should  require  only  six  mortars  and 
two  cannon." 

This  fort  was  never  able  to  successfully  resist  at- 
tack, except  in  the  disastrous  repulse  of  General 
Abercrombie.  In  this  case,  however,  it  was  not  the 
fort  itself  that  prevented  the  success  of  the  British 
troops,  but  the  terrible  abatis  and  the  foolhardiness 
of  an  incompetent  commander. 

Just  what  means  General  Amherst  used  to 
strengthen  Fort  Ticonderoga  after  its  evacuation  by 
the  French  in  1759,  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain. 
But  it  is  probable  that  he  used  the  same  material 
from  which  it  was  constructed,  that  is,  timber  and 
earth.  It  will  be  remembered  that  he  did  not  occupy  it 
long,  as  he  at  once  followed  the  French,  under  Bour- 


Fort  Amherst — Crown  Point  251 

lemarque,  to  Crown  Point,  and  from  thence  to  Isle 
aux  Noix  and  subsequent^  to  Canada. 

However,  in  the  meantime,  Amherst  occupied 
Crown  Point  and  proceeded  to  erect  fortifications  at 
that  spot  (this  occurred  in  1759),  and  the  works  were 
named  Fort  Amherst.  The  walls  of  Fort  Amherst 
were  wood  and  earth,  twenty-two  feet  thick  and  six- 
teen feet  high,  with  a  core  of  masonry  four  feet  thick 
and  twelve  feet  high.  It  was  about  fifteen  hundred 
yards  square,  and  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  broad 
ditch,  cut  in  solid  rock,  with  immense  labor;  on  the 
north  was  a  double  row  of  stone  barracks,  of  a 
capacit}^  to  contain  tw^o  thousand  troops. 

On  the  north  was  a  gate  and  a  strong  drawbridge, 
and  a  covered  way  to  the  water  of  the  lake.  The 
whole  is  now  in  ruins,  and  the  outworks,  of  which 
there  were  some  pretty  extensive  ones,  are  little  else 
than  a  heap  of  ruins.  The  remains  of  some  of  the 
stone  barracks  are  quite  extensive  and  should  be 
preserved  from  further  decay. 

An  idea  of  the  dilapidated  condition  at  these  parts 
may  be  derived  from  the  fact  that  on  the  29th  of 
September,  1773,  Governor  Tryon  desiring  General 
Haldiman  to  station  two  hundred  men  at  Ticonde- 
roga  and  Crown  Point,  as  a  protection  against  the 
New  Hampshire  rioters  ( ?) ,  the  latter  reported  that 
the  state  of  the  buildings  at  those  places  was  such 
"  that  they  can't  give  cover  to  more  than  fifty  men." 

Standing  on  the  dock  at  Baldwin,  waiting,  in  the 
noonday  sun,  for  the  steamer  from  the  south,  I  was 


252  Prisoner's  Island 

struck  with  the  fact  that  the  great  majority  of  the 
tourists  who  throng  Lake  George  and  Lake  Cham- 
plain  steamers,  during  the  recreation  season,  take 
their  pleasures  in  a  perfunctory  way,  gathering  their 
scraps  of  history  from  guide-books,  and  are  not  at 
all  impressed  by  the  evidences  of  historic  events  and 
localities  through  which  they  are  passing. 

I  enquired  of  two  or  three  gentlemen,  "  which  of 
the  islands  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  dock  is 
Prisoner's  Island?"  They  had  never  heard  of  it. 
I  also  asked  if  they  knew  the  location  of  "  Howe's 
Landing."  It  had  no  meaning  to  them.  A  native 
pointed  out  the  little  island  about  three  hundred  feet 
away,  near  the  creek  which  is  the  outlet  of  Lake 
George,  opposite  to  which  on  the  west  bank  is 
"  Howe's  Landing."  You  will  remember  the  story  of 
this  little  island  barely  one  hundred  feet  in  circum- 
ference. How,  during  the  French  War,  English 
prisoners  captured  by  the  French  were  marooned  on 
the  island  for  security.  A  small  guard  was  left  in 
charge  of  them,  and  as  soon  as  the  main  body  of 
the  French  had  retreated  the  English  prisoners  waded 
ashore  from  the  island  and  escaped,  the  French  not 
being  aware  that  from  one  side  of  the  island  it  was 
easily  fordable. 

While  waiting  for  the  steamer,  I  recalled  to  mind 
the  story  of  the  landing  of  the  van  of  Abercrombie's 
army  under  Lord  Howe.  The  distance  from  the 
steamboat  landing  to  Fort  Ticonderoga  is  four  miles, 
while  two  miles  down  the  outlet,  near  the  upper  falls, 
the    French    troops    had    their    first    entrenchments. 


Howe's  Landing  253 

Where  now  is  seen  pasture  lands  and  cultivated 
fields,  with  sloping  meadows  and  rounded  hills,  were 
dense  forests  of  mammoth  pines  and  tangled  under- 
brush. 

To  the  south  floated  a  mj''riad  of  boats  and  bateaux 
containing  the  dense  mass  of  Abercrombie's  army  of 
fifteen  thousand  men  with  artillery,  siege  guns,  and 
supplies.  An  insistent  murmur  of  voices  filled  the 
air,  broken  occasionally  by  the  sharp  notes  of  com- 
mand. The  van  having  debarked,  and  with  Rogers's 
rangers,  with  whom  were  Rogers,  Putnam,  and  Stark, 
and  Lord  Howe,  leading  these  intrepid  soldiers, 
plunged  into  the  forest  interspersed  with  ravines 
offering  ambush  on  every  side. 

A  few  days  ago  I  read  a  description  of  Lord 
Abercrombie  at  this  period:  "  A  heavy  man,  an  aged 
gentleman,  infirm  in  body  and  mind,"  and  yet  the 
General  was  only  fifty-two  years  old. 

At  the  upper  falls  were  entrenchments  defending 
the  carrying  place,  also  a  road  a  mile  and  a  half  long 
leading  to  the  lower  falls,  thereby  avoiding  rapids 
and  a  bend  in  the  creek.  This  fortification  at  the 
upper  falls  was  probably  called  Fort  Vaudreuil  for 
a  brief  period.  Fort  Ticonderoga  was  located  a  mile 
below  at  the  lower  falls,  which  now  marks  the  centre 
of  the  thriving  village  of  Ticonderoga. 

Avoiding  this  carry,  the  rangers  turned  towards 
the  northwest  to  the  valley  of  Trout  Brook,  near  its 
junction  with  Ticonderoga  Creek,  their  ultimate  ob- 
ject being  to  surround  the  fort  which  is  located  on 
a  peninsula  a  hundred  feet  above  Lake  Champlain. 


2  54  Black  Watch 

Within  a  mile  north  of  the  fort,  crossed  by  the  pres- 
ent road  to  Fort  Ti,  may  yet  be  seen  the  old  French 
entrenchments,  as  they  are  called.  To  the  south  of 
the  road  the  breastworks  may  be  plainly  traced 
through  the  forest  growths  that  now  cover  the  slope 
of  the  hill,  where  the  brave  Black  Watch  charged 
and  died  in  their  vain  attempt  to  surmount  the  terri- 
ble abatis,  where  "  they  could  not  go  forward  and 
would  not  go  back."  The  place  where  those  brave 
Scots  were  buried,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  en- 
trenchments, is  still  shown  to  tourists. 

Following  the  road  to  the  fort,  we  were  allowed 
to  inspect  the  effort  made  by  Mrs.  Stephen  H.  P. 
Pell  to  restore  this  historic  fortress  so  that  it  might 
present  the  appearance  it  had  when  Ethan  Allen  de- 
manded its  surrender  in  the  name  of  the  "  Great 
Jehovah  and  the  Continental  Congress." 

Recently  I  have  found  the  iconoclast  at  work 
in  a  place  I  least  expected,  that  is  in  Vermont. 
From  a  great-grandfather  through  a  grandfather, 
father,  and  son,  we  are  told  that  as  Ethan  Allen 
was  an  infidel  he  could  not  have  used  the  term, 
"  Great  Jehovah."  What  he  did  say,  says  the  icono- 
clast is :    "  In  the  name  of  the  Continental  Congress 

I  demand  the  surrender  of  this  fort,  and  by  G , 

I  will  have  it."  I  can  imagine  the  bones  of  the  brave 
Green  Mountain  Boys  shaking  in  their  graves  at  this 
attempt  to  destroy  one  of  their  most  cherished 
traditions. 

After  an  afternoon  spent  on  the  heights  of  Fort 
Ticonderoga   and  a  visit  to  the   Grenadier  Battery 


Black  Watch  255 

on  the  extreme  edge  of  the  southeast  comer  of  a 
precipitous  bluff  (which  was  built  to  correct  an  error 
made  bj^  the  builder  of  Fort  Carillon)/  we  returned 
to  our  hotel. 

Near  the  French  entrenchment  I  noticed  a  tele- 
phone line  of  five  wires.  At  that  moment  a  flock  of 
about  a  dozen  swallows  settled  on  the  line,  some  on 
each  wire,  which  made  it  resemble  a  bar  of  music, 
each  bird  a  note.  Calling  the  Professor's  attention 
to  it  I  asked  him  if  he  could  sing  it.  "  Why,"  said 
he,  "it  is  Old  Hundred"  but  when  he  attempted  to 
sing,  the  birds  flew  away. 

To  the  left  of  the  Grenadier  Battery,  but  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake  and  exhibited  on  the  grounds  of 
JMrs.  Pell  is  all  that  remains  of  another  of  General 
Benedict  Arnold's  war  vessels,  the  Revenge^  the  hull 
being  fairly  well  preserved. 

After  a  night  of  restful  slumber  from  nine  p.m.  to 
seven  a.m.  w^e  were  again  ready  for  exploration.  Fol- 
lowing the  Ticonderoga  Creek  south  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  village,  after  about  ten  minutes'  walking,  we  came 
to  its  junction  with  Trout  Brook,  and  presumably 
walked  over  the  spot  where  Lord  Howe  met  his  death. 
In  a  southern  direction  we  saw  the  gap  between 
Mount  Defiance  and  Cooks  ^lountain,  marking  the 
valley  of  Lake  George  about  a  mile  awaj^  while  to 
the  east   JNIount   Defiance   with   its   extended   crest 

1  It  is  said  that  the  fort  was  not  built  large  enough  to  command 
the  mouth  of  the  creek,  thereby  allowing  an  enemy's  barges,  etc., 
to  enter  the  creek  without  being  molested  by  the  guns  of  the 
entrenchments,  hence  the  Grenadier  Battery  was  erected. 


256  Trout  Brook 

loomed  up,  its  precipitous  slope  sombre  with  trees  of 
evergreen  and  rocks  of  granite,  and  in  the  foreground 
hillocks  symmetrically  rounded  by  glacial  floods 
bounded  the  tortuous  sluggish  flow  of  historic  Trout 
Brook  of  insignificant  width.  We  were  quite  im- 
pressed with  a  well-worn  trail  along  its  banks  and 
dreamily  pictured  half -clad  JNIohawks  or  Algonquins 
with  moccasin  tread  and  with  bloody  scalps  pendant 
from  their  belts,  silently  and  in  single  file  following  its 
course  to  Lake  St.  Sacrement,  and  awoke  suddenly  to 
find  that  it  was  nothing  but  a  prosaic  cow-path  we 
w^ere  following. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  the  original  nor  the 
present  condition  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  Ticonderoga  as 
they  are  being  restored,  whatever  that  may  mean, 
but  will  trust  that  the  reader  will  be  satisfied  with 
the  numerous  illustrations  herewith  introduced. 

Returning  to  our  hotel  for  a  little  rest  and  refresh- 
ment, we  afterwards  climbed  the  slope  of  JNIount 
Hope  as  the  sun  declined  and  the  shadows  deepened, 
and  found  the  crown  of  the  hill  occupied  by  a  ceme- 
tery. In  the  gathering  gloom  we  passed  into  an  ad- 
joining field  over  a  primitive  stile  where  we  saw  the 
entrenchment  thrown  up  by  General  Burgoyne  when 
he  took  possession  of  the  hill,  July  2,  1777.  Mount 
Hope,  two  miles  from  the  fortress  and  about  one  mile 
from  the  old  French  lines,  was  not  a  menace  to  the 
Americans  at  the  fort  at  Ticonderoga,  but  as  a 
strategic  point  it  was  of  great  value  to  Burgoyne, 
for  it  commanded  the  road  to  Lake  George  and  was 
a  strong  position  if  attacked,  as  the  hill  is  protected 


TSl 


Mount  Hope  257 

by  a  sheer  precipice,  which  drops  down  one  hundred 
feet  to  the  plain  below. 

From  the  hill,  looking  towards  the  east,  one 
sees  the  ravine  of  Ticonderoga  Creek,  which,  by 
falls  and  rapids,  drops  two  hundred  and  ten  feet 
to  the  level  of  Lake  Champlain  in  about  four 
miles. 

The  Professor  took  a  photograph  of  the  ravine 
from  Mount  Hope,  showing  Lake  Champlain  in  the 
distance,  the  promontory  of  Ticonderoga  on  the  left, 
Fort  Defiance  on  the  right,  and  the  heights  of 
Mount  Independence  on  the  lake.  The  gloom  of 
the  woods  was  intense  and  not  at  all  suited  to  pho- 
tography, but  the  picture  is  certainly  a  success, 
artistically. 

A  story  was  told  us  as  we  came  down  the  moun- 
tain. A  meeting  was  being  held  by  a  labor  union 
whose  president  was  more  noted  for  his  zeal  than 
knowledge.  A  question  had  arisen  in  regard  to  the 
form  of  a  previous  resolution.  The  president  had 
just  read  the  resolution,  as  copied  from  the  minutes, 
when  a  member  arose  and  said :  "  Mr.  President,  is 
that  a  facsimile  of  the  resolution?  "  "No,"  said  Presi- 
dent Joe,  "  this  is  none  of  your  fact  simalurs,  this  is 
an  exact  copy." 

Of  course  this  reminded  one  of  the  party  of  a  story. 
"  Some  of  the  stunts  done  by  the  telephone  are  quite 
amusing,"  he  began.  "  A  funeral  had  been  held  at 
a  small  place  near  by.  One  of  the  family  wished 
that  the  hymns  sung  should  be  noticed.  The  office 
of  the  daily  paper  was  called  up,  and  was  told  that 
17 


258  Mount  Hope 

two  hymns  had  been  sung,  Abide  with  Me  and 
Asleep  in  Jesus.  The  next  day  the  notice  appeared 
as  follows :  *  The  hymns  sung  at  the  funeral  of 
Miss were  Abide  with  Me  and  Sleeping  Jesus/  " 


CHAPTER  XX 

STORY    OF   OLD    BILL    HARRIS BAYS   WITHIN    BAYS 

OITTING  under  the  shadow  of  the  colonnade  of  the 
^  Fort  William  Henrj^  Hotel  and  looking  north 
over  the  blue  waters  of  Lake  George,  the  tourist,  on 
his  first  visit  from  the  south,  is  apt  to  rest  content  while 
the  eye  absorbs  and  the  brain  digests  the  beauty  of 
the  view  spread  out  before  him.  Three  miles  away 
the  diminutive  wooded  Isle  of  Diamonds  seems  to 
float  on  the  waters  midway  from  shore.  Another 
mile  beyond  lies  Long  Island,  in  close  proximity  with 
a  long  narrow  peninsula,  at  the  extreme  north  end 
of  which  is  located  Assembly  Point,  forming  the  west 
shore  of  Harris  Bay. 

Somewhere  on  the  shore  of  this  bay,  during  the 
War  of  the  Revolution,  was  the  home  of  a  family 
of  patriotic  Americans  whose  name  was  Harris; 
Moses  Harris  the  elder  and  his  stalwart  son  William, 
for  whom  this  bay  was  named.  At  the  extreme 
south  end  of  this  bay  is  a  cluster  of  islands  which 
is  named  on  the  map  "  Happy  Family  Islands." 

At  the  present  writing  my  thoughts  are  not 
turned  particularly  to  this  beauty  spot,  but  to  the 
family  of  Harris,  and  their  physical  sufferings, 
and  doughty  deeds  of  daring.      From  Dr.  A.  W. 

259 


26o  Old  Bill  Harris 

Holden's  Queenshury  I  have  garnered  a  num- 
ber of  interesting  incidents  pertaining  to  this 
family. 

During  the  raid  of  Major  Christopher  Carleton 
in  July,  1780,  whose  force  consisted  of  eight  hundred 
British  regulars,  two  hundred  Tories,  and  one  hun- 
dred seventy-five  Indians,  Fort  Ann  and  Fort 
George  were  destroyed,  many  outlying  settlements 
burned,  and  many  prisoners  taken. 

Among  the  prisoners  were  JNIoses  and  William 
Harris,  who  with  sixteen  others  were  compelled  to  walk 
with  feet  bare  along  the  west  bank  of  Lake  George, 
over  the  Indian  trail  to  a  point  on  Lake  Champlain, 
where  the  party  embarked  in  boats  and  bateaux.  It 
would  seem  from  the  context,  that  this  party  was 
conveyed  down  Lake  Champlain,  and  the  Richelieu 
and  St.  Lawrence  rivers,  to  Quebec,  where  they  were 
imprisoned  on  an  island,  and  guarded  by  a  patrol  of 
soldiers. 

With  the  coming  of  spring,  after  many  months*^ 
seclusion,  the  yearning  for  home  obsessed  them,  and 
nostalgia  becoming  epidemic,  a  plan  for  escape  was 
formed,  which  resulted  in  seven  of  the  party  seizing 
a  boat  which  daily  brought  them  provisions  from  the 
mainland.  In  the  meantime  the  conspirators  had 
accumulated  about  three  daj^s'  rations.  By  means  of 
this  boat  they  reached  the  mainland,  and  entered  into 
the  vast  wilderness  on  the  south  shore  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence. Bill  Harris,  being  an  expert  woodsman,  took 
command  and  boldly  plunged  into  the  forest,  pur- 
suing his  way  southward  with  but  little  rest  day  or 


Old  Bill  Harris  261 

night,  and  with  scant  refreshment,  it  being  necessary 
for  them  to  husband  their  slender  stock  of  provi- 
sions, as  they  were  many  hundreds  of  miles  from  their 
home.  Their  provisions  soon  gave  out,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  depend  on  such  chance  fare  as  the  forest 
afforded. 

At  length  utterly  worn  out  with  fatigue  and  loss 
of  sleep,  and  the  intolerable  annoyance  of  flies  and 
mosquitoes,  a  fire  was  built  producing  a  smudge  of 
smoke,  and  under  its  protection  the  whole  party  was 
soon  sound  asleep. 

About  midnight  they  were  aroused  by  a  volley  of 
musketry,  by  which  one  of  the  party  was  killed  and 
two  others  badly  wounded.  Harris,  who  was  of  Her- 
culean proportions  and  strength  and  of  great  activity, 
arose  in  time  to  parry  a  blow  from  a  tomahawk,  which 
was  aimed  by  a  gigantic  savage  at  one  of  his  com- 
panions. The  Indian  immediately  grappled  with  him, 
and  after  a  struggle  for  some  minutes  Harris  suc- 
ceeded in  throwing  him  upon  the  now  blazing  fire, 
putting  one  of  his  feet  on  his  foe's  neck  and  pressing 
his  head  among  the  glowing  fagots.  At  this  junc- 
ture a  Tory  by  the  name  of  Cyrenus  Parks,  a  near 
neighbor  and  former  friend  before  the  war,  threat- 
ening him  with  a  clubbed  musket,  ordered  him  to 
release  the  savage.  This  he  refused  to  do,  and  as 
Parks  drew  back  to  strike  him,  Harris  exclaimed 
"you  won't  kill  an  unarmed  man,  a  neighbor  too?  " 
Parks  made  no  reply  and  the  blow  descended. 
Harris  interposed  his  arm,  which  was  broken  by  the 
force  of  the  blow  which  also,  falling  on  his  head,  cut 


262  Old  Bill  Harris 

the  scalp  frightfully  and  laid  him  stunned  at  the  feet 
of  the  Tory. 

Harris  remained  insensible  for  many  hours,  and 
when  at  last  he  awoke  to  consciousness,  he  found  that 
he  had  been  hit  on  the  other  side  of  his  head  by  a 
tomahawk,  presumably  by  his  Indian  antagonist,  that 
he  had  two  wounds  upon  his  forehead,  and  a  bayonet 
thrust  in  the  chest,  and  had  probably  been  left  for 
dead.  All  of  his  companions  were  gone,  together 
with  his  shoes,  coat,  and  knapsack. 

Staggering  to  his  feet  he  went  to  a  near-by  stream, 
bathed  and  dressed  his  wounds  as  well  as  circum- 
stances would  admit,  and  making  a  sling  of  his  neck 
handkerchief,  maimed  and  crippled,  he  painfully 
resumed  his  journey  to  his  distant  home. 

Edible  roots  and  berries,  the  bark  and  buds  of  trees 
were  his  only  food,  except  an  occasional  frog  eaten 
raw.  At  length  he  came  out  on  the  bank  of  a  stream, 
and  while  looking  for  material  for  a  rude  raft,  he 
caught  sight  of  two  men  cautiously  watching  him  from 
a  distance  above.  Thinking  they  were  enemies,  he 
withdrew  into  the  thicket. 

After  waiting  some  time,  and  reflecting  on  the  fact 
that  renewed  captivity  could  be  no  worse  than  his 
present  situation,  he  resolved  to  advance  and  give 
himself  up.  Stepping  boldly  out  in  the  open,  he 
beckoned  to  them  to  approach,  when  to  his  great  joy 
he  found  them  to  be  two  Dutchmen  from  the  Mohawk 
Valley,  former  comrades  of  his  in  his  captivity,  who 
had  escaped  during  the  attack  on  their  camp.  They 
cleansed  and  dressed  his  wounds,  bound  up  his  arm 


Old  Bill  Harris    .  263 

with  rude  bark  splints,  and  set  about  constructing  a 
raft  to  cross  the  stream.  Fortunately  Harris  had 
a  hook  and  line  in  his  pocket,  and  coming  to  a  forest 
stream  they  encamped,  caught  a  fine  string  of  trout, 
which  they  cooked  in  backwoodsman  style,  and  ate 
with  the  appetites  of  starving  men. 

Continuing  their  journey  they  came,  after  some 
days'  travel,  upon  a  clearing  and  log  house.  One 
of  the  three  cautiously  approached  the  hut,  begging 
for  bread.  The  woman  was  French  and  they  soon 
found  out  that  they  were  still  in  Canada,  and  many 
weary  miles  from  home. 

It  was  after  many  more  days  of  painful  wander- 
ings that  they  at  last  came  to  a  small  town  on  the 
Connecticut  River,  where  Harris's  wounds  were  prop- 
erly dressed.  A  few  more  days  of  travel  and  he 
reached  his  home  on  Lake  George,  weary  and  foot- 
sore. Although  from  that  time  he  received  intelli- 
gent care,  his  wounds  were  a  long  time  healing. 
Even  after  his  recovery  he  was  so  infirm  that  he  could 
only  serve  in  the  reserve  militia  until  the  close  of  the 
war. 

But  what  became  of  Cyrenus? 

It  is  said  that  he  had  a  brother  Joseph,  who,  after 
the  war  lived  on  his  brother's  place,  near  neighbor  to 
William  Harris.  Both  being  Whigs  and  patriots, 
they  became  friends.  One  day  Joseph  called  on  Wil- 
liam and  being  in  great  good  humor,  the  two  had  a 
jolly  time  telling  stories  and  recalling  scenes  of 
their  childhood.  At  last  Joseph  led  the  conversation 
up    to    the    brother    Cyrenus,    and    asked    William 


2  64  Old  Bill  Harris 

if  he  would  not  overlook  the  past  and  forgive  his 
brother,  Cyrenus  Parks,  if  the  latter  would  make  suit- 
able acknowledgment  and  ask  forgiveness.  Spring- 
ing to  his  feet  in  a  tempest  of  rage,  the  old  scout 
replied  with  an  oath :  "  No,  he  tried  to  kill  me  in 
cold  blood,  and  if  I  ever  get  a  chance,  I  '11  shoot  him. 
Joseph,  Cyrenus  is  at  your  house,  and  if  he  wants 
to  live  he  must  keep  out  of  my  way." 

The  next  night  Cyrenus  escaped  to  Canada.  The 
popular  tradition  that  Harris  tracked  him  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  shot  him  as  he  was  crossing  that 
stream  is  declared  by  the  family  to  be  untrue. 

It  is  told  that  an  Indian  medicine  man,  on  his  usual 
rounds  gathering  herbs  for  his  simple  remedies,  called 
at  the  home  of  Old  Bill  Harris.  Harris's  children, 
who  inherited  their  father's  antipathy  for  the  aborigi- 
nes, insulted  the  medicine  man  with  blackguard  and 
missives,  until  he  lost  all  patience  and  threatened  to 
tomahawk  them.  His  menace,  though  intended  only 
to  frighten  them,  was  enough  for  Old  Bill,  who  seized 
his  rifle,  followed  the  unsuspecting  medicine  man  to  the 
forest,  shot  him  through  the  head,  and  sank  his  body 
in  a  deep  sluggish  brook  which  found  its  way  through 
the  middle  of  a  morass. 

Rumors  of  the  murder  of  the  doctor  having  reached 
his  tribe  in  Canada,  a  stalwart  Indian  was  sent  to 
Lake  George  to  retaliate  by  the  killing  of  Harris. 

This  emissary,  with  true  Indian  cunning,  lurked 
about  Harris  Hollow  for  a  number  of  days  without 
revealing  himself  to  any  one,  lest  his  presence  should 
excite  suspicion  and  put  his  wily  enemy  on  guard. 


Old  Bill  Harris  265 

At  last  seeing  a  single  man  hoeing  corn  in  the  clear- 
ing near  the  place  of  his  concealment,  he  approached 
him  and  civilly  requested  that  he  direct  him  to  Harris's 
cabin.  The  Indian  had  never  seen  the  backwoods- 
man, and  knew  not  that  he  was  talking  to  the  famous 
scout  himself.  Harris  scented  danger  at  once  and, 
being  unarmed,  except  with  his  farm  implement,  used 
a  little  diplomacy  in  order  to  circumvent  the  savage, 
who  was  armed  with  knife  and  tomahawk,  and 
evidently  a  man  of  great  strength  and  activity. 

With  a  keen  sense  of  his  own  danger,  and  with 
his  characteristic  coolness,  he  replied,  "  Harris  is  a 
neighbor  of  mine,  he  lives  about  two  miles  away  by 
the  road,  but  I  can  show  you  a  short  cut  through 
the  woods,  if  you  will  wait  until  I  finish  hoeing  this 
row."  While  leisurely  completing  his  work  he  laid 
his  plans,  and  shouldering  his  hoe,  led  the  way  into 
the  adjoining  woods.  Sometimes  walking  in  front, 
again  in  the  rear  of  the  Indian,  they  made  their  way 
into  the  depths  of  the  forest,  when,  watching  a  favor- 
able opportunity,  Harris  struck  his  unsuspecting  foe 
a  murderous  blow  on  the  head  with  his  hoe,  which 
felled  him  to  the  ground,  where  the  son  of  the  forest 
w'as  quickly  killed,  and  as  quickly  buried,  and  Harris 
returned  to  his  home  in  moody  silence.  Harris 
Hollow  was  thenceforth  unmolested,  but  the  pro- 
prietor lived  to  rehearse  the  tale  to  a  good  old  age. 

One  more  story  about  this  pioneer  of  Lake  George. 
It  is  said  that  in  Harris  Bay  he  meted  out  border 
justice  to  eight  Indians  who  had  been  despatched  by 
their  tribe  to  waylay  and  kill  him,  in  revenge  for 


266  Old  Bill  Harris 

some  of  his  many  ruthless  acts,  for  if  half  that  is 
told  of  him  is  true,  he  had  as  little  compunction  in 
killing  an  Indian  as  in  shooting  a  wolf.  These  In- 
dians had  been  lurking  in  the  swamps  and  woods  of 
the  neighborhood  for  some  days,  watching  patiently 
an  opportunity  for  his  capture. 

The  size  of  the  party  would  seem  to  indicate  a  de- 
sire to  make  a  prisoner  of  him  instead  of  killing  him 
stealthily.  The  stake,  the  fire,  the  gauntlet,  the  slow 
torture,  the  scalping,  the  mutilation,  all  of  these  they 
desired  to  inflict  upon  the  man  who  had  ruthlessly 
killed  their  brothers. 

Finall}^  he  learned,  either  by  observation  or  through 
the  kind  offices  of  a  neighbor,  that  they  were  all  out 
on  the  lake  fishing.  He  immediately  hurried  around 
to  his  friends  in  the  neighborhood,  and  borrowed  their 
muskets  or  rifles  to  the  number  of  eight,  which,  after 
loading  them,  he  secreted  behind  a  log  near  the  shore 
of  the  lake.  He  then  exhibited  himself  to  them  with 
derisive  and  contemptuous  gestures,  when  they  all 
swiftly  plied  the  paddles  of  their  canoes  for  the  shore 
to  take  him.  As  they  came  within  range  of  his  guns, 
he  deliberately  shot  one  after  another  until  they  were 
all  killed.  It  is  said  that  no  more  attempts  were 
made  by  the  Indians  to  kill  Old  Bill  Harris,  as  they 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  bore  a  charmed  life. 

One  would  think  that  he  was  a  fit  companion  to 
his  Dutch  neighbor  Van  Wormer,  who  boasted  that 
he  had  "killed  his  twenties"   (q.  v.). 

Bolton    Bay    is    set    down    on    the    map    as    the 


Bay  of  Bays  267 

*'  Huddle,"  but  six  miles  south  on  the  east  side  of 
the  lake,  is  a  locality  which  might  well  be  called  the 
*'  Huddle  "  also.  At  Bolton  we  have  a  huddle  of 
islands  but  east  of  Long  Island  we  have  a  "  huddle 
of  bays." 

Bays  within  bays.  Earlier  maps  give  the  name  of 
Van  Wormer's  Bay  to  this  locality,  but  maps  of  the 
geological  survey  divide  it  into  Harris,  Dunham, 
Middle,  Echo,  Dark,  Sandy,  and  Van  Wormer  bays, 
while  morasses  and  lowlands,  between  French  ISIoun- 
tain  and  Pilot  Knob,  mark  the  course  of  the  outlet 
of  the  lake  to  the  Hudson  Valley  during  the  post- 
glacial period.  A  settled  portion,  with  its  many  small 
hotels  and  boarding  houses,  also  bears  the  name  of 
Kattskill  Bay. 

It  has  alwaj^s  been  my  fortune  to  visit  (from  the 
steamer)  this  bay  of  bays,  in  the  brilliant  sunshine 
of  an  August  day.  From  Lake  George  village  the 
course  of  the  steamer  is  as  straight  as  an  arrow  to 
Assembly  Point,  which  just  escapes  being  an  island 
by  a  narrow  natural  causeway  which  connects  it  with 
the  eastern  shore;  the  route  passes  by  Dunham  Bay, 
tucked  away  under  the  shadow  of  Burnt  Hill  and 
Joshua  Rock,  on  which  is  situated  the  home  of  the 
late  Edward  Eggleston,  the  author  of  the  Hoosier 
Schoolmaster^  etc.;  it  rounds  Ripley  Point  to  Clever- 
dale,  again  with  a  curve  to  the  Sheldon  House  at 
Sheldon  Point;  and  then  crosses  the  bay  to  a  group 
of  hotels  and  cottages  under  the  frowning  height  of. 
Pilot  Knob,  vying  with  Buck  ^lountain  in  grandeur 
and  picturesque  beauty.     Indeed  it  would  be  hard  to 


268  Bay  of  Bays 

tell  where  Pilot  Knob  ends  and  Buck  Mountain  be- 
gins, except  for  the  towering  peak,  of  2334  feet,  of 
pine-clad  Buck. 

From  Sheldon  House  the  boat  crosses  an  inner  bay 
called,  now.  Van  Wormer  Bay,  passing  by  Grove 
Hotel,  Trout  Pavilion,  Kattskill  Hotel,  the  De  Long, 
Stevens,  and  Rupert  cottages,  and  from  that  point 
in  a  straight  line  two  and  a  half  miles  long  across  the 
lake  to  the  Marion. 

In  passing  around  Kattskill  Bay,  each  landing  is 
greeted  by  groups  of  summer  boarders  in  all  styles 
of  free  and  easy  costumes,  with  gay  laughter  and 
joyous  repartee.  If  any  passenger  does  not  dis- 
play a  responsive  smile,  at  the  evident  happiness  of 
those  youthful  groups,  you  may  set  him  down  as  fit 
for  "  treasons,  stratagems,  and  spoils." 

Some  one  has  said  that  any  old  costume  is  correct 
at  summer  resorts,  the  line  being  drawn  at  hoop 
skirts  and  pantalets.  This  seems  to  apply  to  Katts- 
kill Bay,  and  in  fact  to  the  shore  of  Lake  George. 
A  photograph  is  shown  of  marshes  at  the  head  of 
Dunham  Bay,  the  post-glacial  outlet  of  Lake  George. 
Another,  is  a  view  across  this  bay  looking  west  be- 
tween Joshua  Rock  and  Assembly  Point.  Diamond 
Island  is  visible  in  the  opening  wdth  mountain  peaks 
west  of  Bolton.  Another  photograph  shows  the  road 
iTinning  south  from  Crosby  side  giving  the  head  of 
the  lake  and  Prospect  JNIountain  from  an  unusual 
point  of  view.  At  Lake  George  village  the  Church 
of  the  Sacred  Heart  and  its  burying  ground  mark 
a  spot  within  the  old  French  lines  occupied  by  Mont- 


Bay  of  Bays  269 

calm  in  1757  dtiring  the  siege  of  Fort  William  Henry. 
Also  a  view  of  Montcalm  Bay  and  Artillery  Cove, 
marking  the  landing  of  the  French  troops,  well  out 
of  sight  of  the  doomed  garrison  at  the  fort. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

GENERAL  JOHN   BURGOYNE 

pEHHAPS  there  is  no  English  general,  who  com- 
*  manded  British  troops  in  America  during  the 
War  of  Revolution,  whose  name  is  better  known  in 
northern  and  western  New  York  than  General  John 
Burgoyne,  whose  name  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  battle  of  Saratoga. 

Sir  John  Burgoyne  was  born  in  1723,  and  was  fifty- 
two  years  of  age  when,  in  the  spring  of  1775,  he  came 
to  America.  It  is  said  that  he  took  part  in  the  battle 
of  Bunker  Hill  on  June  17,  1775,  having  in  charge  a 
battery   of  long-range   siege   guns.      In   December, 

1776,  he  returned  to  England,  and  was  commissioned 
lieutenant-general  and  placed  in  command  of  the 
British  forces  in  Canada,  where  he  arrived  early  in 

1777.  In  June  of  the  last  named  year  he  began  an 
invasion  of  the  province  of  New  York  by  the  way 
of  Lake  Champlain.  Previous  to  this,  however.  Gen- 
eral Sir  Guy  Carleton  had  appeared  at  the  foot  of 
Lake  Champlain  with  thirteen  hundred  men.  With 
this  force  he  destroyed  the  flotilla  of  the  Americans 
under  General  Arnold,  captured  Crown  Point,  which 
he  abandoned  after  an  occupation  of  twenty  days, 
and  returned  to  Canada. 

General  Sir  John  Burgoyne  left  St.  Johns,  on  the 

270 


3j 


a; 


Burgoyne's  Plan  271 

river  Sorel,  in  June,  1777,  with  an  army  of  eight 
thousand  men  in  boats.  At  the  falls  on  the  Boquet 
River  he  met  about  four  hundred  Indians  in  council, 
and  after  a  feast  and  a  stirring  appeal  attached  them 
to  his  army. 

It  was  at  this  time  he  issued  his  pompous  and  bom- 
bastic proclamation,  beginning  as  follows: 

"  By  John  Burgoyne,  Esquire,  Lieutenant-General 
of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  America,  Colonel  of  the 
Queen's  regiment  of  Light  Dragoons,  Governor  of 
Fort  William  in  North  Britain,  one  of  the  Commons 
of  Great  Britain  in  Parliament,  and  commanding  an 
army  and  fleet  employed  on  an  expedition  from 
Canada,  etc. 

"  I  have  but  to  give  stretch  to  the  Indian  forces 
under  my  direction,  and  they  amount  to  thousands, 
to  overtake  the  hardened  enemies  of  Great  Britain 
and  America." 

On  July  first  he  appeared  before  Ticonderoga, 
which  was  inadequately  garrisoned  under  command 
of  General  St.  Clair  {q.  v.),  who  was  compelled  to 
evacuate. 

Burgoyne  pressed  forward  almost  unopposed,  as 
the  American  forces  were  very  weak.  The  latter  re- 
treated first  to  Fort  Edward,  and  then  down  the  Hud- 
son nearly  to  Albany.  A  portion  of  St.  Clair's  forces 
were  pursued  by  Generals  Eraser  and  Riedesel,  who 
overtook  them  at  Hubbardton,  where  they  were  de- 
feated and  dispersed.  Burgoyne,  however,  advanced 
very  slowly,  being  harassed  by  the  Americans  under 
General  Philip  Schuyler. 


272  General  John  Burgoyne 

An  expedition  sent  out  by  Burgoyne  to  capture 
stores  and  cattle  and  procure  horses  for  his  troops  in 
the  vicinity  of  Bennington,  Vermont,  resulted  in  dis- 
aster to  the  British  troops,  which  contributed  mate- 
rially to  their  subsequent  defeat  and  surrender  at 
Saratoga. 

Burgoyne's  plan  for  the  capture  of  the  province 
of  New  York  was  arranged  in  London,  and  would 
have  been  very  simple  and  effective  but  for  the  check- 
ing of  the  British  troops  at  Oriskany  and  Bennington. 

This  plan  provided  for  a  force  of  four  thousand 
British  troops  and  three  thousand  Germans  (to  which 
were  to  be  added  some  Canadians  and  a  body  of  In- 
dians) to  advance  up  Lake  Champlain,  the  ultimate 
object  being  the  city  of  Albany.  An  auxiliary 
force  under  Colonel  St.  Leger  was  to  leave  Mont- 
real and  go  to  Oswego,  and  thence  move  on  to  join 
a  body  of  Tories  under  Sir  John  Johnson  and  a  body 
of  Indians  under  command  of  Chief  Brant,  who 
were  to  clear  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk  and  join 
Burgoyne  and  General  Howe  (who  was  to  proceed 
up  the  Hudson)   at  Albany. 

How  Colonel  St.  Leger  was  checked  at  Oriskany, 
how  General  Stark  drove  back  Baum  at  Hoosic,  and 
how  General  Lord  Howe  failed  to  come  up  the  Hud- 
son are  well  known  incidents  of  history,  and  need  not 
be  dwelt  upon  at  this  time,  but  the  arrogance  and 
treachery  of  Burgoyne  left  a  personal  enemy  in  his 
rear,  General  Sir  Guy  Carleton,  who,  when  requested 
by  Burgoyne,  refused  to  advance  with  three  thousand 
British  troops,  to  occupy  Ticonderoga,  and  thereby 


The  Surrendered  Troops  273 

relieve  Burgojme  of  the  care  of  that  fort,  and  give 
him  a  needed  support  in  his  operations  on  the  Hudson. 
If  Burgoyne's  plan  had  been  successfully  carried  out, 
the  success  of  Washington  might  have  been  deferred 
for  years,  and  New  York  Province  have  become  part 
of  Canada. 

General  Burgoyne  is  commonly  believed  to  have 
been  a  natural  son  of  Lord  Bingley.  While  a  subaltern 
in  the  army,  he  clandestinely  married  a  daughter  of  the 
Earl  of  Derby.  After  the  marriage,  the  Earl  settled 
£300  a  year  upon  him,  and  assisted  him  materially 
in  attaining  his  subsequent  promotions. 

After  the  surrender  of  the  British  forces  at  Sara- 
toga, Burgoyne  went  to  England  on  his  parole  in 
May,  1778.     He  died  in  London  in  1792. 

The  experience  of  the  surrendered  troops  is  singular 
and  a  unique  instance  in  the  military  annals  of  the 
United  States.  The  vanquished  troops  made  prison- 
ers by  a  "  convention  "  for  the  surrender  of  them, 
made  by  Gates  and  Burgoyne,  were  marched  through 
New  England  to  Cambridge,  near  Boston,  to  be  em- 
barked for  Europe.  The  Congress  had  ratified  the 
agreement  that  they  should  depart,  on  giving  their 
parole  not  to  serve  again  in  arms  against  the  Ameri- 
cans. Circumstances  soon  occurred  that  convinced 
Washington  that  Burgoyne  and  his  troops  intended 
to  violate  the  agreement  at  the  first  opportunity, 
and  it  was  resolved  by  the  Congress  not  to  allow  them 
to  leave  the  country  until  the  British  Government 
should  ratify  the  terms  of  the  capitulation.  Here 
was  a  dilemma.  That  government  would  not  recog- 
18 


2  74  General  John  Burgoyne 

nize  the  authority  of  the  Congress  as  a  lawful  body; 
so  the  troops  were  allowed  to  remain  in  idleness  in 
America  for  four  or  five  years.  Burgoyne  alone  was 
allowed  to  go  home  on  his  parole. 

The  British  ministry  charged  the  Congress  with 
absolute  perfidy;  the  latter  retorted,  and  justified 
their  acts  by  charging  the  ministry  with  "  meditated  " 
perfidy. 

Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  an  adequate  sup- 
ply of  food  for  the  captive  troops  in  New  England, 
the  Congress  finally  determined  to  send  them  to 
Virginia.  Commissioners  sent  over  in  the  spring  of 
1778,  to  tender  a  scheme  of  reconciliation,  offered  a 
ratification  of  the  "  convention "  signed  by  them- 
selves ;  but  the  Congress  would  recognize  no  authority 
inferior  to  the  British  ministry  for  such  an  act. 
Finally  in  pursuance  of  a  resolution  of  Congress, 
October  15,  1778,  the  w^hole  body  of  captives  (four 
thousand  in  number)  English  and  German,  after  the 
officers  had  signed  a  parole  of  honor  respecting  their 
conduct  on  the  way,  took  up  their  line  of  march 
early  in  November,  for  Charlottesville,  Virginia,  un- 
der the  command  of  IVIajor-General  Phillips.  It  was 
a  dreary  winter's  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles 
through  New  England,  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Virginia.  The  routes 
of  the  two  nationalities  were  sometimes  distant  from 
each  other,  and  sometimes  the  same,  until  they  reached 
Valley  Forge,  when  they  went  in  the  same  fine  until 
they  crossed  the  Potomac  River. 

They  remained  in  Virginia  until  October,   1780, 


QC 


The  Surrendered  Troops  275 

when  the  danger  that  the  captives  might  rise  against 
and  overpower  their  guard  caused  the  British  to  be 
removed  to  Fort  Frederick  in  Maryland,  and  the 
Germans  to  Winchester  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 
Death,  desertions,  and  partial  exchanges  had  then  re- 
duced their  number  to  two  thousand  one  hundred. 
Afterward  they  were  removed  in  part  to  Lancaster, 
Pennsylvania,  in  part  to  East  Windsor,  Connecticut. 
In  the  course  of  1782  they  were  all  dispersed,  either 
by  exchanges  or  desertions.  Many  of  the  Germans, 
however,  remained  in  America. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

THE    BLOODY   TRAIL — THE    IROQUOIS    LEGEND    OF    THE 

MOSQUITO 

I  HAVE  made  continued  efforts  to  confine  myself 
to  my  subject,  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  but 
am  overwhelmed  with  such  a  mass  of  gruesome  in- 
cidents on  bloody  trails  leading  to  and  from  the 
battle-fields  of  Lake  Champlain,  that  I  find  myself 
continually  straying  from  the  subject  in  hand. 

Well  may  the  waterways  and  the  forest  paths  be 
called  the  "  bloody  trails,"  particularly  that  section 
of  the  country  which  constitutes  the  dividing  line,  or 
carrying  place,  between  the  upper  Hudson  and  the 
upper  end  of  Lake  George.  INIany  stories  are  told 
of  incidents  that  have  occurred  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort 
Lydius — Lyman — Edward,  as  this  fort  of  the  wilder- 
ness has  been  variously  named. 

The  name  Fort  Lydius  seems  to  have  been  given 
to  a  block-house  erected  on  the  notorious  Dellius  grant, 
which  was  subsequently  vacated,  and  the  Rev.  God- 
frideus  Dellius  dismissed  from  the  Dutch  church  at 
Albanj'-.  He  returned  to  Holland,  but  whatever 
rights  he  had  were  transferred  to  John  Henry  Lydius, 
who  erected  the  block-house,  spoken  of  above,  on  a 

portion  of  the  Dellius  grant. 

276 


The  Bloody  Trail  277 

In  1755,  General  Lyman  erected  a  fort  at  this  post 
by  order  of  Major-General  Johnson,  which  for  a 
brief  period  was  called  Fort  Lyman,  but  was,  during 
the  same  year,  renamed  Fort  Edward  by  General 
Johnson. 

Vaudreuil,  Governor  of  New  France,  describes  it 
at  follows: 

"  What  they  [the  English]  are  building  at  Lydius, 
are  called  storehouses,  an  entrepot,  and  not  a  fort.  It 
is  forty  feet  wide  at  one  end,  about  twenty-five  at 
the  other,  and  seventy  feet  long.  This  house  has  an 
enclosure,  formed  by  a  ditch  fourteen  feet  wide  and 
eight  feet  deep. 

"  The  earth  from  the  ditch  is  thrown  upward  toward 
the  fort,  and  on  this  embankment,  pickets  twelve  feet 
high  are  set  up,  inclining  outward,  that  is  to  say, 
fraised.  The  house  is  constructed  of  square  timber, 
one  piece  on  each  other.  Eight  cannon  are  in  the 
jfield  outside  the  unfinished  enclosure;  but  one  was 
mounted  inside.  Within  the  enclosure  are  twentj'-- 
four  mortars.  Twenty-five  additional  cannon  were 
expected  to  arrive." 

This  bloody  trail  really  led  from  the  St.  Law- 
rence to  the  IMohawk  River  at  Schenectady,  and  also 
to  old  Saratoga,  at  the  mouth  of  Fish  Creek.  In 
1690  Schenectady  was  burned  and  many  of  the  in- 
habitants massacred  by  the  French  and  Praying  In- 
dians, under  Sieur  La  Moyne,  and  De  INIantet;  and 
old  Saratoga  was  destroyed  by  INIarin,  November 
19,  1745,  and  thirty  of  the  inhabitants  killed  and  sixty 
carried  away  captives.     The  bloody  trail  radiated  to 


278  The  Bloody  Trail 

Bennington,  Hubbardton,  and  Saratoga.  On  it 
the  beautiful  Jane  McCrea  was  murdered,  and 
Colonel  Ephraim  Williams  killed,  while  gallantly- 
leading  his  men  against  the  enemy,  and  many  con- 
voys destroyed  and  escorts  murdered  and  scalped  by 
the  Indians  in  the  employ  of  the  French. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Holden  of  Glens  Falls  writes  as  follows : 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  campaign  of 
1755,  Sir  William  Johnson  had  constructed  a  cor- 
duroy road  from  Fort  Edward  to  Lake  George,  fol- 
lowing substantially  the  present  highway  between  the 
two  points.  On  every  side  was  leafy  covert  or  rugged 
eminence,  suitable  for  ambuscade  or  hiding  place  of 
savage  foe,  or  hardly  less  savage  Canadians  or  French 
regulars. 

"  Every  rod  of  ground  on  this  road  is  stained  with 
the  blood  of  the  English,  the  colonists  and  their  In- 
dian allies,  the  Iroquois,  or  that  of  their  fierce  and 
implacable  enemies.  Hardly  a  mile  but  what  has 
its  story  of  massacre,  surprise,  murder,  deeds  of  dar- 
ing and  heroism,  or  of  duty  performed  under  horrible 
and  heart-rending  circumstances." 

It  seems  that  in  order  to  protect  this  road,  or  as  a 
sort  of  entrepot  for  both  soldiers  and  teamsters  and 
their  convoys,  a  rude  fortification,  consisting  of  a 
block-house  and  stockade,  was  erected  at  a  place 
called  Half-Way  Brook.  This  fortification  was 
known,  first  as  Fort  Miller,  and  afterward  (in  1759) 
as  Fort  Amherst.  Even  a  large  body  of  troops  was 
not  free  from  danger,  as  the  wily  savage  would  fol- 
low its  course  through  the  tangled  thickets,  and  with 


Glacial  279 

devilish  audacity  cut  off  stragglers,  killing  and  scalp- 
ing them,  or  carrying  them  to  a  secluded  spot  to 
practise  their  hellish  tortures  upon  them.  One  of 
these  secluded  spots  has  come  down  to  history  under 
the  name  of  the  Blind  Rock. 

In  a  paper  on  the  noted  Blind  Rock,  Dr.  A.  W. 
Holden  says :  "  The  Rock  is  one  of  numerous  boul- 
ders that  lie  in  the  path  of  the  diluvial  drift,  trending 
from  the  lofty  Adirondack  range  to  the  valley  of  the 
Hudson.     Its  composition  is  gneiss." 

It  is  this  reference  to  the  Glacial  or  Post-Glacial 
Period  that  leads  to  thoughts  "  which  be  jumbles  the 
senses  and  confounds  the  imagination."  There  are 
some  things  that  we  do  not  care  to  dwell  upon;  that 
are  too  large  for  our  poor  little  brains;  subjects  that 
we  have  relegated  to  some  out-of-the-way  cell  in  our 
cranium,  as  unsolved  and  unsolvable:  time,  eternity, 
the  beginning,  the  end,  the  celestial  bodies,  and  the 
immensity  of  space.  Scientists,  however,  think  that 
our  terrestrial  globe  is  fair  food  for  speculation,  and 
have  pictured  to  us  the  Adirondacks  in  the  grasp  of 
the  Ice  Monarch,  ten  thousand  years  ago. 

Sailing  along  the  shores  of  Lake  George,  and  un- 
der the  shadows  of  its  wooded  mountains,  I  have 
attempted  to  grasp  the  thought  of  an  ice  cap  a  mile 
high,  above  its  sylvan  waters.  We  are  told  that 
Black  Mountain  is  2665  feet  high.  Imagine  if  you 
can  another  mountain  of  the  same  height,  on  the  top 
of  its  sombre  peak,  and  you  will  get  an  idea  of  the 
ice  level  of  this  pigmy  basin,  during  the  Glacial 
Period. 


28o  Post-Glacial 

And  the  silence  of  that  white  immensity!  no  sound 
but  the  boom  of  rending  ice  or  swish  of  wind,  no 
eye  to  see,  no  ear  to  hear;  all  of  the  colors  of  nature 
extinguished,  except  the  glistening,  prismatic  tints 
of  the  frozen  world. 

And  then  the  Post-Glacial  Period,  with  its  torren- 
tial flow  and  the  thundering  avalanche  denuding  hill- 
sides and  disnipting  mountains.  It  was  then  that 
the  great  Lake  Iroquois,  which  comprised  all  of  the 
Great  Lakes  whose  w^aters  now  flow  to  the  ocean 
through  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  flowed  through 
the  Mohaw^k  and  lower  Hudson  valleys.  Centuries, 
perhaps  thousands  of  years  afterwards,  when  the 
ice  cap  was  melted  from  the  upper  St.  Law- 
rence, but  while  the  lower  river  and  gulf  w^as  still 
in  the  grasp  of  the  Ice  King,  the  water  from  the 
Great  Lakes  flowed  up  the  Richelieu  and  Champlain 
valleys,  and  the  w'aters  of  the  new  lake,  which  has 
been  named  Lake  St.  Lawrence,  found  their  way  to 
the  ocean  through  Lake  Champlain,  Lake  George, 
and  the  upper  Hudson  valleys. 

If  you  will  examine  the  maps  of  the  Geological 
Survey  of  the  Adirondack  region,  especially  the 
Quadrangle  of  Caldwell,  you  will  see  that  in  this 
Post-Glacial  Period  we  are  speaking  of,  the  waters 
of  the  Lake  George  basin  must  have  flowed  south 
through  Van  Wormer's  Bay,  and  that  by  this  route 
the  gneiss  boulder,  called  the  Blind  Rock,  w^as  carried 
by  glacial  or  torrential  floods  to  the  place  it  now 
occupies. 

Situated  in  Mohawk  territory.  Blind  Rock  should 


Blind  Rock  281 

have  an  Indian  name.  Up  to  the  present  time  I  have 
been  unable  to  ascertain  what  that  name  is.  How- 
ever, it  might  well  be  called  Ke-na-kwa-di-o-ne,  an 
Iroquois  name,  meaning — "  We  are  going  to  kill 
them." 

It  is  situated  a  yard  or  two  from  the  route  of  the 
old  military  highway  leading  from  Fort  Edward  to 
Fort  William  Heniy,  and  about  twenty-five  rods 
east  of  the  old  plank  road  to  Caldwell,  or  Lake 
George  village,  and  about  two  and  one  half  miles 
north  of  Glens  Falls.  It  is  stated  by  some  of  the 
older  inhabitants  that  the  rock  has  a  large  cleft  or 
crevice  through  the  centre,  caused  by  repeated  fires 
built  on  it,  and  that  within  the  last  century  over  four 
feet  of  the  rock  was  exposed  to  view;  yet  owing  to 
erosion  and  corrasion,  and  the  gradual  wash  from 
the  hill  above,  only  a  small  portion  of  the  crown  is 
visible  to-day. 

According  to  various  legends,  this  was  a  favorite 
place  of  encampment  for  the  Indians,  and  was  fre- 
quently the  scene  of  torture  and  death  of  prisoners. 
The  name  Blind  Rock  is  said  to  have  been  given  to 
this  rendezvous  in  consequence  of  a  blind  man  who 
was  put  to  torture,  and  finally  burnt  to  death  on  its 
summit.  Tradition  also  gives  us  the  details  of  the 
capture  and  torture  of  two  English  prisoners,  who 
were  divested  of  all  of  their  clothing,  one  bound  se- 
curely to  a  tree,  and  the  other  brought  into  the  circle 
of  the  band  of  Indians  intent  upon  his  torture  by 
fire.  In  order  to  prolong  their  merciless  sport,  a 
fire  was  built  upon  the  rock  and  the  captive  was 


2«2 


Blind  Rock 


forced  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  narrow  circle  of 
Indians,  who  menaced  him  with  knife  and  tomahawk 
and  spear,  as  he  drew  near  the  circle,  to  avoid  the 
scorching  heat  of  the  flames.  At  length,  when  nearly 
exhausted,  he  caught  sight  of  an  Indian  child  in  the 
circle.  Half-crazed  with  the  thought  of  ultimate 
death  by  fire,  he  seized  the  child  and  flung  it  into 
the  flames.  Astounded  and  paralyzed  by  the  auda- 
city of  the  prisoner  and  the  screams  of  the  little 
savage,  they  rushed  to  its  rescue,  when,  seizing  a 
tomahawk,  the  Englishman  fled  in  the  direction  of 
his  bound  comrade,  cut  his  thongs,  and  with  his  naked 
comrade  plunged  into  the  depths  of  the  dismal  forest. 
Fear  lent  strength  and  speed  to  their  limbs,  and  the 
darkness  aiding  them  in  their  flight,  they  made  a 
long  detour  in  the  woods  and  thickets,  and  finally 
reached  Fort  Edward,  bleeding  from  every  pore. 

The  agony  of  the  fugitives  was  augmented  by  the 
merciless  attacks  of  those  pests  of  the  Adirondacks, 
the  mosquitoes,  which,  fastening  on  their  blood-stained, 
naked  bodies,  burrowed  into  the  flesh  until  satiated; 
when,  falling  ofl'  gorged  Avith  blood,  they  left  poison 
in  the  veins,  which,  swelling  face  and  neck,  rendered 
the  poor  fellows  almost  unrecognizable.  We  are  told 
of  the  ferocious  and  often  fatal  attacks  of  these 
blood-thirsty  insects  in  the  wilds  of  Alaska,  and  I 
often  wonder  if  they  are  larger  than  our  Adirondack 
pests.  The  Iroquois,  however,  have  a  legend  to 
account  for  the  mosquito. 

In  the  central  part  of  New  York  State  and  in 
Cayuga   County,   is   a  large  tract   of   marshy   land 


Legend  of  the  Mosquito  283 

known  as  the  JNIontezuma  Marshes.  These  marshes 
or  swamps  extend  along  the  Seneca  River,  and  are 
said  to  be  "  the  paradise  of  mosquitoes."  Of  course, 
w'hen  the  thermometer  marks  ten  or  fifteen  degrees 
below  zero,  we  can  discuss  this  musical  insect  with 
some  degree  of  calmness,  and  without  any  danger 
of  having  its  penetrating  bill  thrust  upon  us.  It 
is  said  that  the  IMontezuma  mosquitoes  are  noted  for 
their  great  size  and  numbers,  but  according  to  a 
legend  of  the  Onondagas,  they  must  even  now  be 
degenerate  scions  of  noble  sires.  The  legend  of  the 
Iroquois  is  as  follows: 

"  There  were,  in  times  of  old — many  hundred 
moons  ago — two  feathered  monsters,  permitted  by 
the  Manitou  to  descend  from  the  sky  and  light  upon 
the  banks  of  the  Seneca  River,  near  the  present  route 
of  the  canal,  at  JNIontezuma.  Their  form  was  that 
of  a  mosquito,  and  they  were  so  large  that  they  dark- 
ened the  sun  like  a  cloud  as  they  flew  between  it  and 
the  earth.  Standing,  the  one  on  one  side  and  the 
other  opposite  on  the  other  bank,  they  guarded  the 
river,  and  stretching  their  long  necks  into  the  canoes 
of  the  Indians  as  they  attempted  to  paddle  along  the 
stream,  gobbled  them  up  as  the  stork  king  in  the 
fable  did  the  frogs.  The  destruction  of  life  was 
great,  for  the  embargo  was  so  strictly  enforced  that 
an  Indian  could  not  pass  without  being  devoured  in 
the  attempt.  It  was  long  before  the  monsters  could 
be  exterminated,  and  then  only  by  the  combined  ef- 
forts of  all  the  warriors  of  the  Cayuga  and  Onondaga 
nations  of  Indians.     The  battle  was  terrible,  many 


284  Legend  of  the  Mosquito 

warriors  being  slain  by  being  transfixed  with  their 
dagger-hke  bills  or  trampled  upon  by  their  huge  feet, 
while  large  war  canoes  were  overturned  and  their 
occupants  drowned,  by  a  single  blow  of  their  pon- 
derous wings.  But  the  warriors  finally  triumphed, 
and  the  mammoth  "  mosquitoes "  were  slain.  But 
sad  to  relate,  as  their  huge  carcasses  decomposed  in 
the  sun,  every  particle  became  vivified  and  flew  off 
daily  in  myriads  of  clouds  of  mosquitoes.  And  they 
have  filled  the  country  ever  since." 

It  is  said  that  some  of  these  "  birds  "  escaped  to 
the  Adirondack  wilderness. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

FLOATING  BRIDGE  AT  FORT  TICONDEROGA — MAJOR 
SKENE WHITEHALL  (SKENESBORO) THE  KILL- 
ING     OF       JANE       MCCREA FATE       OF      WILLIAM 

GILLILAND 

MENTION  has  been  made  of  a  bridge  of  boats 
across  Lake  Champlain,  connecting  Ticonde- 
roga  with  Mount  Independence  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  narrow  channel  of  the  lake  at  that  point. 

The  bridge  has  been  described  in  an  old  military 
diary  as  follows: 

"It  is  a  floating  bridge,  supported  on  twenty-two 
sunken  piers  of  very  large  timber,  the  spaces  between 
these  filled  with  separate  floats,  each  about  fifty  feet 
long  and  twelve  wide,  strongly  fastened  together  with 
iron  chains  and  rivets.  A  boom  composed  of  large 
pieces  of  timber,  well  secured  together  by  riveted 
bolts,  is  placed  on  the  north  side  of  the  bridge,  and 
by  the  side  of  this  is  placed  a  double  iron  chain,  the 
links  of  which  are  one  and  a  half  inches  square.  The 
construction  of  this  bridge,  boom  and  chain,  of  four 
hundred  yards  in  length,  has  proved  a  laborious  un- 
dertaking and  the  expense  must  have  been  immense. 
It  is,  however,  admirably  adapted  to  the  double  pur- 
pose of  a  communication,  to  the  opposite  shore,  and 

285 


286  Sandy  Hill 

an  impenetrable  barrier  to  any  vessels  that  might 
attempt  to  pass  our  works." 

It  was  across  this  bridge  of  boats  that  General 
St.  Clair  marched,  when  he  was  obHged  to  evacuate 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  in  July,  1777,  at  the  expected 
attack  from  Fort  Defiance.  Another  account  says 
that  this  heavy  chain  and  immense  boom,  one  thou- 
sand feet  in  length,  was  cut  through  by  the  British 
in  two  hours. 

Regarding  the  Bloody  Trail  or  Bloody  Divide,  I 
find  the  following  story: 

The  site  on  which  the  village  ot  Sandy  Hill  now 
stands  was  formerly  the  scene  of  Indian  atrocities. 
During  the  War  of  Revolution,  Burgoyne's  army  lay 
encamped  here  for  about  six  weeks.  The  Hessians 
occupied  the  ground  in  the  vicinity  of  the  new  bury- 
ing ground  at  Sandy  Hill  while  the  grenadiers  lay 
at  Moss  Street,  two  miles  north,  and  the  light  in- 
fantry at  Fort  Edward  Hill.  Professor  Silliman,  in 
1819,  told  the  following  story: 

A  Mr.  Schoonhoven,  during  the  last  French  war, 
was  coming  through  the  wilderness  of  the  divide,  from 
Fort  William  Henry  to  Sandy  Hill  with  six  or  seven 
other  Americans,  when  the  party  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  taken  prisoners  by  a  party  of  Indians,  in  the 
employ  of  the  French.  They  were  conducted  to  a 
spot  which  is  now  the  central  green  or  park  at  Sandy 
Hill  and  forced  to  sit  down  in  a  row  upon  a  log. 
(Mr.  Schoonhoven  in  telling  the  tale  pointed  out  the 
exact  place  where  the  log  lay.)  The  Indians  then 
began  very  deliberately  to  tomahawk  their  victims. 


Sandy  Hill  287 

commencing  at  one  end  of  the  log,  and  splitting  the 
skulls  of  their  prisoners  in  regular  succession;  while 
the  survivors,  compelled  to  sit  still  and  to  witness 
the  awful  fate  of  their  companions,  awaited  their 
own  in  unutterable  horror. 

Mr.  Schoonhoven  was  the  last  but  one  upon  the 
end  of  the  long  log  opposite  to  where  the  massacre 
commenced;  the  work  of  death  had  already  pro- 
ceeded to  him,  and  the  chief  gave  the  signal  to  stop 
the  butchery.  Then  approaching  Mr.  Schoonhoven, 
he  mildly  said:  "Do  you  not  remember  that  [at 
such  a  time]  when  your  young  men  were  dancing, 
poor  Indians  came  and  wanted  to  dance  too?  your 
young  men  said,  '  No,  Indians  shall  not  dance  with 
us  ';  but  you  [for  it  seems  that  the  chief  had  recog- 
nized his  features  only  at  the  critical  moment]  you 
said,  '  Indians  shall  dance  ';  now  I  will  show  you  that 
Indians  can  remember  kindness." 

I  have  also  found  the  same  story  told  with  slight 
changes.  In  the  other  story,  the  number  sitting  on 
the  log  has  grown  to  fourteen,  all  soldiers.  All  were 
killed  but  one,  a  John  Quackenbush,  whose  life  was 
spared  owing  to  the  intercession  of  a  squaw. 

Spofford's  Gazetteers  of  1813  and  also  1824  have 
the  following,  about  Whitehall,  New  York,  situated 
at  the  head  of  Lake  Champlain: 

"  It  is  situated  on  the  west  bank  of  Wood  Creek 
at  its  entrance  into  Lake  Champlain,  seventy-three 
miles  northwest  of  Albany.  The  situation  is  low  and 
on  almost  solid  rock  with  a  very  thin  covering  of 


288  Philip  Skene 

earth.  This  village  was  formerly  called  Skenes- 
horo.  The  vessels  taken  from  the  British  on  this 
lake  during  the  War  of  1812,  as  well  as  those  that 
gained  the  victory,  now  repose  in  the  mud  near 
Whitehall  village,  objects  of  inquiry  and  attention 
with  every  patriotic  tourist  and  traveller.  The 
northern  Indians  named  this  place  Kah-cho-quah-na, 
*  the-place-where-dip-fish,'  at  the  foot  of  the  falls." 

The  first  settler  seems  to  have  been  Philip  Skene, 
who  located  here  in  1761,  with  thirty  Scotch  families. 

Philip  Skene  was  the  grandson  of  John  Skene  of 
Halyards  in  Fifeshire,  Scotland,  and  was  a  descendant 
of  the  famous  Scotch  chief,  William  Wallace.  He 
seems  to  have  been  a  man  of  ability  and  great  energy. 
Having  been  connected  with  the  army  of  General 
Abercrombie  in  1758,  and  that  of  General  Amherst 
in  1759,  he  was  left,  as  major  of  a  brigade  of  British 
troops,  in  charge  of  Crown  Point  in  October,  1759. 
Lake  Champlain  then  being  considered  part  of  the 
British  possessions,  the  major  had  ample  opportunity 
to  become  familiar  with  the  surrounding  country,  and 
nominally  associating  twenty-four  others  (as  dum- 
mies), he  secured  a  patent  of  twenty-five  thousand 
acres  in  1765,  and  a  patent  of  nine  hundred  additional 
acres  in  1771. 

It  is  said  that  in  1770,  he  built  a  massive  stone 
house  and  barn,  a  forge,  and  two  saw-mills,  on  his 
estate  at  Skenesboro.  He  also  built  a  sloop  on  the 
lake,  and  a  road  thirty  miles  long  through  the  wilder- 
ness towards  Salem.  His  house  was  30  x  40,  and 
his  barn   130   feet  long,   with  massive   stone   walls 


Philip  Skene  289 

pierced  with  port-holes.  The  houses  of  his  tenants, 
however,  were  a  few  frail  wooden  structures. 

He  seems  to  have  been  a  thorough  Briton  and  very 
popular  with  the  settlers  in  his  immediate  vicinity, 
and  for  that  reason  he  became  an  object  of  fear  and 
dislike  to  the  patriots.  When  St.  Clair  retreated 
from  Ticonderoga  in  1777,  he  took  possession  of 
Skenesboro,  and  when  driven  thence  by  Bur- 
goyne's  troops,  the  patriots  destroyed  all  of  the 
buildings  and  the  vessels  on  the  south  end  of  the 
lake,  before  they  continued  their  retreat  to  Fort  Ann. 

Previous  to  this,  however,  a  Captain  Herrick  with 
a  party  of  American  volunteers  attacked  the  Skene 
settlement  and  captured  young  Major  Skene,  fifty 
tenants,  twelve  negroes,  and  a  sloop. 

In  the  cellar  of  the  stone  house  the  soldiers  found 
the  body  of  the  wife  of  the  elder  Skene,  which  had 
been  preserved  for  many  years  to  secure  to  the  hus- 
band an  annuity,  devised  to  her  while  she  remained 
above  ground.  ( !) 

The  body  of  Mrs.  Skene  was  buried  back  of  the 
house  by  the  Americans. 

You  who  have  followed  these  sketches  of  incidents 
of  the  "  dark  and  bloody  ground  "  of  the  Adiron- 
dacks,  cannot  fail  to  grasp  the  fact  that  extreme 
brutality  was  practised  by  both  Indians  and  white 
men,  in  the  predatory  engagements  that  took  place 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  army  of  invasion,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  two  lakes,  sometimes  in  advance  and  often  on 
the  flanks  of  the  detachments. 


290  The  Backwoodsmen 

In  the  raids  of  the  Indian  aUies  of  the  British,  we 
read  of  torture,  scalpings,  and  brutal  mutilation,  and 
among  the  Americans,  that  frenzy  of  revenge  which 
stopped  not  short  of  the  death  of  the  savage  foe. 
And  who  can  blame  them  when  we  comprehend  the 
situation,  where  many  of  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, on  the  frontier,  had  become  warriors  for  the 
purpose  of  vengeance  on  the  foe  that  had,  perhaps, 
destroyed  their  homes  and  murdered  their  defenceless 
households. 

Perhaps  there  was  no  incident  during  the  war  which 
aroused  to  such  a  pitch  the  people  of  the  frontier  and 
more  distant  villages,  that  was  so  instrumental  in 
sending  young  men  into  the  army  during  the  Sara- 
toga campaign,  that  stirred  the  fighting  spirit  to  such 
frenzy,  and  in  the  main  contributed  to  the  army  of 
Gates  such  a  stubborn  spirit  of  reprisal,  as  the  brutal 
murder  of  Jane  McCrea  by  the  savage  allies  of 
BurgojTie.  This  spirit  in  the^end  contributed  to  the 
defeat  of  General  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga  and  left 
an  indelible  stain  on  the  reputation  of  the  British 
commander. 

In  this  the  twentieth  century  it  is  hard  to  compre- 
hend the  character  of  the  hardy  pioneers  of  that 
period,  who  plunged  into  the  unknown  forest  of  the 
north,  waged  war  against  towering  oak  and  pine, 
built  for  themselves  and  their  families  a  rude  two- 
room  log  hut,  cleared  the  land,  planted  grain  and 
vegetables  between  the  stumps,  and,  while  their  plant- 
ing was  sprouting,  subsisted  on  game  from  the  woods 
and  stream,  killed  by  bullet  and  hook.     The  rifle  was 


'CD 


X 


The  Killing  of  Jane  McCrea  291 

their  constant  companion,  and  the  killing  of  an  In- 
dian was  thought  to  be  as  justifiable  as  that  of  a 
wild  beast.  Soon  other  adventurous  backwoodsmen 
settling  on  land  near  by  became  their  neighbors,  and 
the  cross-road  sprang  into  existence.  Others  followed, 
and  a  block-house  would  be  erected.  As  time  went 
on  these  scattered  settlements  became  the  nucleus  of 
hamlets,  in  after  years  they  grew  to  villages,  finally 
became  cities. 

Such  a  beginning  had  Fort  Edward,  which  was 
described  in  an  old  gazetteer  as  a  "  man  village."  In 
the  vicinity  of  Fort  Edward  in  1777,  four  miles  away, 
dwelt  the  family  of  McCrea. 

Jane  McCrea  was  the  second  daughter  of  James 
McCrea,  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  minister,  of  Laming- 
ton.  New  Jersey,  who  died  previous  to  the  Revolu- 
tion. Miss  McCrea  was  born  in  1754  and  in  1777 
was  living  with  her  brother,  Colonel  John  McCrea 
of  Albany  (who  had  removed  to  the  neighborhood 
of  Fort  Edward  in  1773) ,  on  the  Hudson  River  about 
four  miles  from  the  fort. 

She  was  betrothed  to  a  young  man  named  David 
Jones,  who  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution 
adhered  to  the  crown,  went  to  Canada,  and  was  com- 
missioned a  lieutenant  in  a  loyalist  regiment. 

When  our  army  retreated  from  Fort  Edward  at 
the  approach  of  General  Burgoyne,  Miss  McCrea, 
who  was  visiting  a  Mrs.  McNeil  at  Fort  Edward,  had 
the  indiscretion  to  remain  behind,  i^robably  in  the  hope 
of  meeting  her  lover. 

Her  brother,  who  had  already  removed  his  family 


292  The  Killing  of  Jane  McCrea 

to  a  place  of  safety,  at  last  sent  her  a  peremptory 
summons  to  come  on  without  delay,  and  she  at  last 
reluctantly  prepared  to  embark  on  a  bateau,  which 
was  to  convey  several  families  down  the  Hudson  out 
of  reach  of  danger. 

On  the  morning  fixed  for  her  departure  the  house 
was  suddenly  surprised  by  a  party  of  hostile  Indians 
belonging  to  General  Burgoyne's  army,  "  sent  out  to 
scour  the  country  and  harass  the  Americans."  Mrs. 
JMcNeil  and  she  w^ere  made  prisoners  and,  with  other 
members  of  the  family,  hurried  off  to  Burgoyne's 
camp.  Mrs.  INIcNeil  arrived  in  safety,  but  in  a  short 
time  was  horrified,  to  see  another  small  band  of  In- 
dians come  in  with  a  number  of  freshly-severed  scalps 
reeking  with  blood,  among  w^hich  she  recognized  the 
long  glossy  hair  of  Jane  McCrea. 

The  precise  manner  of  her  death  has  never  been 
ascertained,  but  in  answer  to  a  communication  from 
General  Gates  about  this  horrible  murder  General 
Burgoyne  says :  "  The  fact  was  no  premeditated  bar- 
barity; on  the  contrary  two  chiefs  who  brought  Miss 
McCrea  off,  for  the  purpose  of  security,  not  of  vio- 
lence to  her  person,  disputed  which  should  be  her 
guard  and  in  a  fit  of  savage  passion  in  the  one  from 
whose  hands  she  was  snatched,  the  unhappy  girl  be- 
came the  victim."  He  further  stated  that  he  obliged 
the  Indians  to  give  up  the  murderer,  but  for  fear 
the  Indians  would  desert  his  forces  he  released  the 
culprit  without  punishment.  Says  a  writer  in  a 
military  journal  before  me: 

"  It  is  impossible  not  to  detest  that  cause  which 


The  Killing  of  Jane  McCrea  293 

accepts  the  aid  of  savage  auxiliaries  and  encourages 
them  in  their  inhuman  slaughter  and  bloodshed.  The 
measure  was  certainly  countenanced,  and  recom- 
mended by  his  INIajesty  King  George  III.  and  his 
ministers,  and  General  Burgoyne  acknowledged  that 
he  allowed  the  Indians  to  take  the  scalps  of  the  dead." 

The  story  of  the  killing  of  Jane  McCrea  has  been 
told  in  various  ways. 

It  was  said  that  Lieutenant  Jones  hired  the  In- 
dians to  bring  his  sweetheart  to  the  camp  and  that 
they  murdered  her  on  the  way  to  settle  a  dispute  re- 
specting the  reward  offered.  This  he  always  denied. 
It  is  said  that  he  retired  to  Canada  soon  after  and 
lived  to  be  an  old  man,  melancholy  and  taciturn.  If 
he  had  been  a  man  of  spirit,  like  old  Nick  Stoner 
he  would  not  have  been  satisfied  "to  look  sad  all 
of  his  Hfe." 

Jane  McCrea  was  first  buried  near  Fort  Edward, 
then  removed  to  Three  Mile  Creek,  and  from  thence 
to  the  old  Fort  Edward  burying  ground.  In  1814, 
the  remains'  were  removed  to  the  new  Union  Ceme- 
tery between  Fort  Edward  and  Sandy  Hill,  and  a 
marble  slab  placed  over  her  grave  by  Miss  Sarah 
N.  Payne,  a  niece  of  Miss  McCrea. 

During  the  Colonial  period  many  attempts  were 
made  to  establish  dominion,  corresponding  to  tlie 
estates  of  the  Old  World,  over  large  tracts  of  de- 
sirable land,  situated  on  navigable  waterways,  which 
were  called  baronial  manors  in  the  provinces,  and 
seigniories  in  French  possessions. 


294  William  Gilliland 

Grants  containing  many  square  miles  were  made 
on  the  St.  Lawrence  in  the  early  days  of  New  France, 
but  there  were  no  attempts  made  to  obtain  seignio- 
ries on  Lake  Champlain,  until  after  1730,  when 
most  of  the  best  land  on  both  sides  of  the  lake  was 
taken  up. 

I  may  say  here  that  these  grants  were  all  vacated 
by  the  British  Government  after  the  conquest  of 
Canada. 

Many  parcels  of  land  were  secured  by  provincial 
soldiers,  who  became  acquainted  with  the  fertility  of 
the  soil,  by  passing  over  and  along  the  border  of  the 
lake  with  General  Amherst,  in  1759-60,  who  after 
the  French  War  became  permanent  settlers. 

Soon  after  the  conquest,  William  Gilliland,  a  suc- 
cessful merchant  in  New  York,  secured  several  large 
tracts  of  land  on  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Champlain, 
upon  which  he  made  an  unsuccessful  effort  to  found 
a  baronial  manor,  after  the  method  of  the  Van 
Rensselaers,  the  Livingstons,  the  Phillipses,  and  the 
Van  Cortlandts,  on  the  Hudson.  In  all,  he  secured 
about  twenty  thousand  acres,  built  a  mansion,  and 
established  a  settlement,  which  was  called  the  Manor 
of  Willsboro. 

William  Gilliland  was  born  near  the  city  of 
Armagh,  Ireland,  about  the  year  1734.  He  seems 
to  have  been  a  young  man  of  fine  personal  appear- 
ance, with  a  liberal  education,  and  a  favorite  in  the 
best  society  in  his  native  city,  but  a  "  detrimental," 
on  account  of  his  lack  of  riches  and  "  blue  blood." 

However,  this  does  not  seem  to  have  prevented  a 


o 


2 
;§ 


a 

^ 


O 


William  Gilliland  295 

mutual  and  warm  attachment  between  this  cultured 
young  Irishman  and  the  Lady  Betsej^  Eckles.  But 
the  disparity  of  birth  and  fortune  proved  an  in- 
superable barrier  to  their  marriage.  Her  family  was 
powerful  enough  to  seclude  the  youthful  Betsey  and 
to  banish  the  young  lover  to  America. 

Entering  a  mercantile  house  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  young  Gilliland  by  his  intelligence  and  assidu- 
ity soon  became  a  partner,  and  in  1759,  having 
won  the  affections  of  a  beautiful  and  accomplished 
daughter  of  his  wealthy  partner,  Elizabeth  Phagan, 
married  her,  receiving  at  the  same  time  fifteen  hun- 
dred pounds  as  her  dowry. 

Without  the  remotest  disloyalty  to  the  second 
Betsey,  his  wife,  the  memory  of  his  youthful  love 
still  clung  to  him,  mingled  with  bitter  animosity 
towards  the  family  w^ho  had  caused  his  banishment 
to  the  New  World,  and  he  dreamed  of  the  future, 
when,  as  lord  of  the  manor,  he  would  take  rank  with 
the  great  patroons  of  the  Hudson,  and  rebuke  the 
petty  landlord,  who  had  scorned  him  and  made  him 
an  exile. 

So  in  1764,  we  hear  of  him  on  a  flourishing  settle- 
ment in  the  wilderness,  and  his  wildest  dreams  seemed 
likely  to  be  realized.  He  held  the  land  in  fee,  and 
leased  it  to  the  settlers  at  a  small  annual  rent.  But 
alas!  "  The  best  laid  plans  of  mice  and  men  gang 
aft  agley." 

The  old  war-trail  of  the  Indian  and  hostile  armies 
in  battle  array  passed  through  and  over  his  domain, 
and  doomed  it  to  destruction.     The  Americans  under 


296  William  Gilliland 

Arnold  In  1776,  and  the  marauding  army  of  Burgoyne, 
with  hordes  of  Indians  on  his  flank  and  rear,  com- 
pleted the  ruin  of  his  possessions.  He  fled  to  New 
York  where  he  remained  until  1784,  when  he  again 
returned  to  the  scene  of  his  former  enterprise,  to 
find  his  tenantry  scattered,  his  buildings  in  ashes, 
and  the  wild  forest  fast  encroaching  on  his  once  fair 
domain.  After  a  short  period  amid  the  ruins  of  his 
once  happy  home,  he  returned  to  New  York,  only  to 
be  harassed  by  debts  and  judgments,  which  finally 
landed  him  in  the  debtors'  prison,  where  he  remained 
until  1791,  when,  regaining  his  freedom,  he  again 
returned  to  his  former  home  on  the  river  Boquet. 
Here,  meeting  with  new  disappointments  and  treach- 
ery, and  becoming  partially  deranged  by  his  mis- 
fortunes, he  wandered  into  the  wilderness. 

Finally  in  February,  1796,  while  travelling  in  the 
woods  on  foot  and  alone,  he  wandered  from  the  trail, 
and  unable  to  regain  the  path,  and  evidently  stricken 
with  some  attack  that  deprived  him  of  power  of  loco- 
motion, he  perished  from  cold  and  exposure.  When 
he  was  found,  his  bleeding  hands  and  knees  were 
evidence  of  his  unavailing  struggle  against  death. 

"  Found  dead !  dead  and  alone ! 
Nobody  near  with  love  to  greet, 
Nobody  heard  his  last  faint  groan, 
Alone  with  God! 
Yes,  God  was  near  when  the  wanderer  died." 


iW  ■  I 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

THE     BURNING     OF     THE     STEAMER     "  PHCENIX  "     ON 

LAKE     CHAMPLAIN,     SEPTEMBER^     1819 PLATTS- 

BURG RIVER  RICHELIEU 

ONE  September  night  in  the  year  1819  the  steamer 
Phoenix  left  Burlington  for  Plattsburg.  It 
had  by  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  run  as  far  as  Pro- 
vidence Island,  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  ship 
was  on  fire.  Richard  M.  Sherman,  a  young  man 
of  twenty-two,  who  was  a  son  of  the  captain,  was 
at  this  time  in  temporary  command  and  it  is  owing 
to  his  energy  and  presence  of  mind  that  no  lives  were 
lost.  Shortly  after  the  fire  was  discovered  it  raged 
with  irresistible  violence.  In  the  Historical  Collec- 
tions of  Barber  and  Howe  the  scene  that  ensued  is 
thus  described: 

"  The  passengers,  roused  by  the  alarm  from  their 
slumbers,  and  waking  to  a  terrible  sense  of  impending 
destruction,  rushed  in  crowds  upon  the  deck,  and  at- 
tempted to  seize  the  small  boats.  Here,  however, 
they  were  met  by  young  Sherman,  who,  having  aban- 
doned all  hope  of  saving  his  boat,  now  thought  only 
of  saving  his  passengers,  and  stood  by  the  gangway 
with  a  pistol  in  each  hand,  determined  to  prevent  any 
person  from  jumping  into  the  boats  before  they  were 

297 


298  Burning  of  the  "  Phoenix  " 

properly  lowered  into  the  water,  and  prepared  to  re- 
ceive their  living  freight.  With  the  utmost  coolness 
and  presence  of  mind  he  superintended  the  necessary 
preparations,  and,  in  a  few  minutes,  the  boats  were 
lowered  away,  and  the  passengers  received  safely  on 
board.  They  then  shoved  off,  and  pulled  through 
the  darkness  for  the  distant  shore.  As  soon  as  this 
was  reached,  and  the  passengers  landed,  the  boats 
returned  to  the  steamboat  and  took  off  the  crew,  and, 
as  the  captain  supposed,  every  living  soul  except  him- 
self. But,  shortly  after  the  boats  had  left  the  second 
time,  he  discovered',  under  a  settee,  the  chambermaid 
of  the  Phoenix,  who,  in  her  fright  and  confusion, 
had  lost  all  consciousness.  Lashing  her  to  the  plank 
which  he  had  prepared  for  his  own  escape,  this  gal- 
lant captain  launched  her  towards  the  shore;  and  was 
thus  left  alone  with  the  vessel,  now  one  burning  pile. 
Having  satisfied  himself  that  no  living  thing  remained 
on  board  his  boat,  and  with  proud  consciousness  that 
he  had  saved  every  life  intrusted  to  his  care,  he  sprung 
from  the  burning  wreck  as  it  was  about  to  sink  be- 
neath the  waters,  and,  by  the  means  of  a  settee, 
reached  the  shore  in  safety.  This  is  no  exaggerated 
story.  It  is  the  simple  narrative  of  one  of  the  most 
heroic  acts  on  record.  We  have  only  to  add,  that 
the  captain  who  so  faithfully  and  fearlessly  dis- 
charged his  duty  on  this  trying  occasion  is  still  [the 
date  of  the  writing  of  this  article  was  1840]  in  com- 
mand of  a  noble  boat  on  Lake  Champlain,  and  is 
known  to  every  traveller  as  Captain  Sherman,  of  the 
steamboat  Burlington." 


Bhiir  Point,   Lake  ('liaiii|ilaiii. 


Plattsburo^  299 


& 


Plattsburg  was  the  scene  of  important  events  in  the 
early  wars  of  the  continent,  and  in  1814  of  a  consid- 
erable naval  battle.  At  that  time,  an  invasion  of  the 
northern  portion  of  New  York  was  contemplated  by 
the  British,  and  a  force  of  from  ten  thousand  to 
fifteen  thousand  troops  was  collected  in  the  vicinity 
of  Montreal  for  that  purpose.  In  such  an  expedi- 
tion the  command  of  Lake  Champlain  became  an 
object  of  great  moment,  as  it  flanked  the  march  of 
the  invading  army  for  more  than  one  hundred  miles, 
thus  offering  facilities  for  the  transportation  of  re- 
enforcements  and  supplies.  The  efforts  of  both  na- 
tions were,  therefore,  directed  to  the  creation  of  naval 
forces  on  the  lake  in  the  shortest  possible  time.  The 
Saratoga^  the  largest  American  vessel,  was  built  at 
Vergennes,  and  was  launched  on  the  fortieth  day  after  't<5 
the  first  tree  used  in  her  frame  was  taken  from  the 
forest.  In  August,  1814,  the  English  army,  about 
twelve  thousand  strong,  commanded  by  Sir  George 
Prevost,  advanced  along  the  western  shore  to  Pitts- 
burgh, which  was  held  by  General  INIacomb  with 
about  fifteen  hundred  men.  The  American  naval 
force,  under  Captain  MacDonough,  was  anchored  in 
Plattsburgh  Bay;  it  consisted  of  fourteen  vessels  of 
all  classes,  canying  eighty-six  guns  and  about  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  men;  the  largest  vessel  was  the 
Saratoga,  twentj^-six  guns  and  two  hundred  and 
twelve  men.  The  British  squadron,  under  Captain 
Downie,  consisted  of  sixteen  vessels,  carrying  ninety- 
five  guns  and  about  one  thousand  men;  the  largest 
vessel  was  the  Confiance,  thirty-seven  guns  and  three 


300  Battle  of  Plattsburg 

hundred  men.  At  sunrise  on  September  11th,  the 
British  squadron  came  in  sight,  and  by  eight  o'clock 
approached  the  American  fleet.  Fire  was  opened  by 
the  Americans,  which  was  not  returned  by  the  enemy 
until  the  Confiance  had  anchored  at  about  three  hun- 
dred yards  from  the  American  line.  The  first  broad- 
side from  the  Confiance  killed  or  wounded  forty  men 
on  board  the  Saratoga,  nearly  a  fifth  of  her  entire 
complement,  and  more  than  a  third  of  the  American 
loss  during  the  action.  The  engagement  now  became 
general.  In  an  hour  the  whole  starboard  battery  of 
the  Saratoga  was  disabled.  She  was  then  winded 
about  by  means  of  kedges,  which  had  been  laid  from 
the  bows,  and  her  fresh  broadside  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  Confiance,  which  had  also  suffered 
severely.  The  British  vessel  attempted  to  perform 
the  same  evolution,  but  without  success,  and  after 
fighting  about  two  and  one  half  hours  in  all,  was 
forced  to  strike  her  flag.  The  fire  of  the  Saratoga 
was  then  turned  upon  the  brig  Linnet  of  sixteen  guns, 
the  second  vessel  of  the  enemy,  which  surrendered  in 
a  few  minutes.  The  CJuihh  sloop  of  eleven  guns 
had  meanwhile  struck  to  the  Ticonderoga  of  seven- 
teen guns,  and  the  Finch  sloop  of  eleven  guns  had 
been  crippled,  and,  drifting  within  reach  of  a  single 
gun  planted  on  a  small  island,  also  surrendered. 
These  sloops  had  been  captured  from  the  Americans 
the  year  before.  The  twelve  gunboats  which  made 
up  the  remainder  of  the  British  squadron  also  hauled 
down  their  flags,  but  presently  made  off  and  escaped, 
all  the  men  on  the  American  gunboats  being  required 


r 

t 

.H^ 

[" 

! 

! 

i 

'  ■'* 

M^y 

^jS^' 

m 

■ 

K 

St.  James,  Lake  (leorjie  Milage. 


Battle  of  Plattsburg  301 

to  keep  the  prizes  afloat.  The  American  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  was  one  hundred  and  twelve; 
that  of  the  British  is  estimated  at  from  one  hundred 
and  seventy-three  to  two  hundred  and  four,  exclusive 
of  prisoners.  Of  the  ninety-five  guns  which  they 
brought  into  action,  they  lost  all  but  twenty.  The 
American  victory  was  mainly  owing  to  the  precaution 
of  Macdonough  in  throwing  out  kedges  from  the 
bow  of  the  Saratoga,  so  that  when  the  guns  in  one 
broadside  were  disabled,  she  could  be  turned  round 
and  present  a  fresh  broadside  to  the  enemy.  Her 
twenty-six  guns  were  thus  in  the  action  practically 
equal  to  twice  as  many.  In  fact,  with  these,  she 
actually  outfought  the  Con  fiance  and  the  Linnet, 
with  fifty-three  guns  of  fully  equal  calibre,  having 
together  twice  as  many  men,  but  which  could  not, 
when  one  broadside  was  disabled,  turn  round  and 
fight  with  the  other.  The  British  army  under  Pre- 
vost  had  in  the  meantime  advanced  upon  ]Macomb's 
position  at  Plattsburg.  A  feint  was  made  in 
front,  while  a  column  was  sent  to  ford  the  river 
above,  and  take  it  in  the  rear;  but  the  column  lost 
its  way,  and  before  the  ford  could  be  found  the 
naval  battle  was  over.  The  attack  was  at  once  aban- 
doned, and  under  cover  of  night  and  a  storm,  the 
British  retreated  in  disorder,  leaving  behind  their  sick 
and  wounded,  and  a  part  of  their  baggage  and 
stores. 

Joseph  Jovency,  in  the  Jesuit  Relation,  describes 
a  wonderful  fish  found  in  the  Lake  of  the  Iroquois 


302  Armored  Fish 

(Champlain),  by  the  early  explorers  of  this  lake. 
He  says: 

"  There  is  a  large  fish  found  in  the  Lac  des  Iro- 
quois, which  is  not  mentioned  by  early  authors.  It 
is  called  by  the  natives  '  causar,'  and  is  eight  feet 
long,  sometimes  ten.  It  is  as  thick  as  the  human 
thigh;  it  is  dun  color  approaching  white;  it  bristles 
all  over  with  scales  so  hard  and  flinty  set  together, 
that  they  turn  the  edge  of  a  knife  or  point  of  a  spear. 
The  head  is  large,  and  protected  by  an  exceedingly 
hard  skull,  like  a  helmet.  Hence  the  name  of 
'  armored  fish '  has  been  given  it  by  the  French. 

"  For  a  weapon  it  carries  an  immense  beak,  of  the 
length  of  a  man's  arm  and  furnished  with  a  double 
row  of  teeth.  It  devours  smaller  fish  and  ensnares 
birds.  Hiding  itself  among  the  sedge  it  projects 
its  beak  above  the  water,  slightly  open.  The  birds 
deeming  it  a  weed  or  a  bush  perch  upon  it,  when  their 
feet  are  caught  by  the  closing  of  its  beak.  It  then 
drags  them  into  the  water  and  devours  them."  (It 
was  probably  the  mascalonge.) 

In  1664  the  River  of  the  Iroquois  was  called  by 
three  names.  It  was  known  as  Richelieu,  until  it 
reached  Fort  Chambly,  from  thence  to  St.  Antonie 
it  was  called  the  Chambly,  and  the  rest  of  the  stream 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  was  known  as  river  Sorel.  It 
was  named  for  two  officers  under  Marquis  de  Tracy, 
Pierre  de  Sorel,  who  built  Fort  Richelieu,  and 
Jaques  de  Chambly,  who  erected  Fort  Chambly 
at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  at  the  present  village  of 
Chambly.     Rouse  Point  at  the  head  of  the  Richelieu 


Richelieu  River  303 

was  named  for  James  Rouse,  a  Canadian  who  settled 
there  in  1788. 

This  river  is  described  (in  1663)  as  follows: 

"  It  is  styled  the  '  River  of  the  Iroquois/  as  it  forms 
the  highway  leading  to  them;  and  by  that  route 
those  barbarians  have  most  often  come  to  attack  us. 

"  The  bed  of  this  river  is  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
wide  throughout  almost  its  entire  course,  although  it 
is  a  little  narrower  at  its  mouth.  Its  banks  are 
clothed  with  beautiful  pines  through  which  it  is  easy 
to  walk;  and,  in  fact,  fifty  of  our  men  made  their 
way  on  foot  there  for  nearly  twenty  leagues,  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river  to  the  falls,  so  called,  although 
there  is  really  no  waterfall  there,  but  merely  a  swift 
current  filled  with  rocks  which  impede  its  course 
and  makes  navigation  almost  impossible,  for  three 
quarters  of  a  league. 

"  As  for  the  rest  of  the  river  it  has  from  its  source 
a  very  firm  bed  in  which  occur  as  many  as  eight 
islands  before  the  basin  below  the  falls  is  reached. 

"  After  passing  the  rapids  of  the  falls  one  sees  the 
third  fort,  which  marks  the  end  of  these  rapids;  from 
there  on,  the  river  is  found  to  be  very  beautiful,  and 
easy  to  navigate  up  to  the  lake  called  Champlain, 
toward  the  end  of  which  one  enters  the  territory  of 
the  Annieronnon  Iroquois"   (Mohawk). 

In  the  settlements  of  a  new  country,  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries,  were  found  men  of 
character  and  education,  and  men  broken  in  health 
and  in  fortune,  men  who  knew  no  law  except  that 
of  desire,  and  who  would  submit  to  no  restraint,  and 


304  Richelieu  River 

yet  were  bold,  brave,  loving  to  their  kindred,  and  the 
most  faithful  of  friends. 

To  social  amenities  or  the  restraints  of  law,  either 
human  or  divine,  they  seem  to  have  paid  little  heed 
and  in  many  instances  were  subject  only  to  the 
dictates  of  their  own  conscience,  perverted  though  it 
might  be  by  their  environment.  Witness  a  tale  that 
is  told  of  the  early  settlements  in  the  town  of  Au 
Sable. 

The  first  babe  born  in  the  little  hamlet  of  Union 
(in  1795)  was  in  the  family  of  John  Stanton.  The 
mother  of  the  child  was  a  servant  girl  in  this  house- 
hold. The  wife,  Mrs.  Stanton,  not  being  exactly 
reconciled  to  the  circumstances,  insisted  upon  being 
immediately  taken  to  her  friends  in  Dutchess  County. 
It  being  winter  the  husband  took  her  upon  a  hand- 
sleigh  and  drew  her  up  the  lake  to  Skenesboro 
(Whitehall),  thence  to  Fort  Edward  and  down  the 
Hudson  on  the  ice  to  her  father's  home;  after  which 
he  returned  to  Au  Sable,  having  been  five  weeks  in 
performing  the  journey.  Upon  his  return  he  mar- 
ried the  mother  of  the  child  and  lived  with  her  many 
years. 


!  vlf  W'lt  \ 


-■i^ 


fc/J 


CHAPTER  XXV 

VILLAGE  OF  LAKE  GEORGE,  FORMERLY  CALLED  CALDWELL 

BLOODY    POND THE    CALL    OF    THE    WILD 

PROSPECT  MOUNTAIN LOST  ON  THE  TRAIL 

r^EORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS,  in  1851,  pub- 
^-^  lished  a  book  which  he  named  Lotus  Eating. 
In  it  he  devoted  a  number  of  pages  to  a  visit  to 
Lake  George.  The  pages  are  charmingly  written, 
(as  though  he  and  his  "  Empress  "  had  eaten  of  the 
"  Lotus,")  but  do  not  impart  a  great  deal  of  in- 
formation about  that  secluded  though  entrancing 
sheet  of  water.  He  tells  us  that  he  journeyed  from 
Saratoga  by  rail  to  JNIoreau  Station,  and  across  the 
divide  in  a  stage  coach.  He  speaks  of  dining  at 
Glens  Falls,  "  oppressed  hy  the  petty  tj'rannj^  of  a 
decayed  dynasty  of  saw-mills,"  and  states  that  *'  the 
vexed  river  rages  and  tumbles  among  channelled 
rocks,  making  a  fine  spectacle  of  the  Trentonian  char- 
acter. Then  we  bowled  along  through  a  brilliant 
afternoon  towards  the  lake.  The  road  is  one  of  the 
pleasantest  I  remember.  And  particularly  on  that 
day  the  grain-fields  were  of  the  rarest  delicacy  of 
tone  and  texture.  Through  the  trees,  an  hour  from 
Glens  Falls,  I  saw  a  sheet  of  water,  and  we  emerged 
upon  a  fine  view  of  the  lake."  And  then  he  records: 
"  Caldwell  is  a  hamlet  at  the  southern  end  of  the 
lake.  It  is  named  from  an  eccentric  gentleman 
^°  305 


o 


06  Village  of  Lake  George 


[illiberal  obstinacy  is  always  posthumously  beati- 
fied into  eccentricity]  who  owned  the  whole  region, 
built  a  hotel  on  the  wrong  spot,  determined  that  no 
one  else  should  build  anywhere,  and  ardently  desired 
that  no  more  people  settle  in  the  neighborhood;  and, 
in  general,  infested  the  southern  shore  with  a  success 
worthy  of  a  mythological  dragon.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  a  fine  hotel  at  the  extremity  of  the  lake, 
commanding  a  view  of  its  length,  and  situated  in 
grounds  properlj^  picturesque,  there  is  a  house  at  one 
side  of  the  south  end  of  the  lake,  looking  across  it 
to  the  opposite  mountain,  and  forever  teasing  the 
traveller  with  wonder  that  it  stands  where  it  does. 
The  hotel  is  admirably  kept,  however,  and  the  faults  of 
position  and  size  are  obviated  as  far  as  possible  by 
the  courtesy  and  ability  of  the  host.  But  the  increas- 
ing throng  of  tourists  justifies  the  erection  of  an  inn 
equal  in  every  manner  to  the  best.  This  year  the  little 
hamlet  was  but  the  '  colony '  of  the  hotel,  and  a  mile 
across  the  lake  on  the  opposite  shore,  was  a  small 
house  for  the  accommodation  of  the  public." 

The  inn  Curtis  speaks  of  was  the  Lake  House, 
long  a  popular  hostelry,  erected  about  1800,  which 
was  torn  down  in  1903.  The  small  house  for  the 
public  across  the  lake  a  mile  away  was  probably  the 
present  Crosbyside  or  its  predecessor. 

Up  to  1772,  all  of  the  western  and  northern  part 
of  the  province  of  New  York  was  called  Albany 
County.  At  the  above  date  the  western  part  was 
cut  off  and  named  Tryon  County,  and  the  north- 
ern part  Charlotte  County.     In  1784,  Washington 


Village  of  Lake  George  307 

County  was  erected.  It  embraced  all,  or  nearly  all, 
of  the  Lake  George  region,  and  also  considerable 
territory  to  the  west,  being  part  of  the  township  of 
Queensbury,  patented  ]May  20,  1762. 

Caldwell  village  was  founded  in  1810,  and  named 
in  honor  of  James  Caldwell,  a  principal  proprietor 
and  a  benefactor,  who  seems  to  have  owned  nearly, 
if  not  quite,  all  of  the  land  in  the  town  of  Caldwell. 
In  1813,  the  village  contained  about  forty  houses, 
stores,  etc.,  a  post-office,  and  a  small  church  "  with 
a  steeple  and  a  bell,"  built  at  the  expense  of  Mr. 
James  Caldwell.  In  1813  Warren  County  was  taken 
from  Washington,  and  Caldwell  became  the  county- 
seat  of  Warren  County. 

Soon  after  the  conquest  of  Canada,  in  1762,  settle- 
ment began  at  the  head  of  the  lake,  but  its  progress 
was  arrested  by  the  Revolution;  after  the  war  settle- 
ments were  resumed.     The  first  settlers  were  Daniel 

Shaw,  Benoni  Burtch, Tierce,  Andrew  Edmonds, 

Obadiah   Hunt,   Thaddeus   Bradley,   Elias   Prosser, 

Nathan  Burdick,  George  Van  Deusen, Butler, 

and  Christopher  Potter. 

The  first  inn  and  the  first  grist-mill  were  erected 
by  General  Caldwell.  He  was  formerly  a  merchant 
at  Albany,  and  obtained  a  patent,  dated  September 
18,  1787,  for  1595  acres  of  land.  The  court-house 
was  built  in  1816. 

The  evolution  of  navigation  on  the  lake  was  slow. 
Imagination  takes  us  back  centuries,  or  to  the  time 
of  very  primitive  intelligence;  to  the  time  of  the  raft 
of  two  logs  bound  together  with  withes.     Next  we 


3o8  Village  of  Lake  George 

come  to  the  dugout,  simply  a  trunk  of  a  tree  hollowed 
out  by  fire,  and  by  slow  chipping  with  stone  imple- 
ments. We  are  told  that  the  Amerinds  of  the  north- 
west frequently  made  boats  thirty  feet  long  of  a 
single  log,  and  that  the  sides  were  made  so  thin  that 
the  top  could  be  made  to  bend  outward  in  the  centre 
by  a  cross  piece,  so  that  it  had  the  appearance  of 
being  made  from  a  very  large  tree.  It  is  very  prob- 
able that  the  Amerinds  to  the  north  of  the  Great 
Lakes  very  early  became  aware  of  the  utility  of  the 
bark  of  trees  for  their  boats,  until  at  last  the  most 
beautiful,  the  most  symmetrical  vessel  ever  floated 
was  an  accomplished  fact.  In  our  forest  land,  or  on 
the  many  lakes  and  rivers  of  the  Adirondacks,  the 
dugout  was  of  comparatively  short  duration,  the  ex- 
ception and  not  the  rule  in  the  Lake  George- 
Champlain  valleys,  and  the  beautiful  birchen  canoe 
was,  for  centuries,  the  only  means  of  navigation  for 
the  Amerinds.  With  the  European  came  the  saw- 
mill, and  small  boats  made  of  slabs,  and  the  batteaux 
propelled  by  pole,  and  paddle,  and  sail.  Many  of 
these  were  to  be  found  on  the  lake,  during  the  French 
and  Indian  wars,  and  the  war  between  France  and 
England.  A  few  sloops  were  built  during  the  latter 
period,  and  with  the  coming  of  the  permanent  settlers, 
rafts  of  large  size  were  floated  up  the  lake  with  ease. 
It  is  said  that  with  the  right  kind  of  wind,  timber 
rafts  were  made  to  float  against  the  very  mild  cur- 
rent that  flows  to  the  north  on  Lake  George. 

In  the  year  1817  we  have  the  first  steamer  on  this 
lake,   named   Caldwell,  built   by  enterprising   ship- 


Village  of  Lake  George  309 

builders,  only  ten  j^ears  after  the  first  voyage  of 
the  Clermont  on  the  Hudson  in  1807. 

It  is  to  be  assumed  that  this,  the  first  steamer  on 
Lake  George,  was  burned  in  1821,  for  a  record  of 
1824  says:  "There  is  to  be  a  steamer  on  the  lake 
in  1824,  the  former  one  having  been  destroyed  by  fire. 
(The  Mountaineer,  built  near  Caldwell  in  1824,  w^as 
condemned  in  1837.) 

On  July  29,  1856,  the  steamer  John  Jay,  built  in 
1852,  while  on  her  way  up  the  lake  was  burned  near 
Garfields.  Six  persons  jumped  overboard  and  were 
drowned,  the  rest  of  the  passengers  were  rescued  by 
boats  from  the  shore.  In  1860  another  steamer 
named  Minnehalia,  built  in  1857,  ran  daily  between 
Caldwell  and  the  foot  of  the  lake.  The  Caldwell  2d, 
built  at  Ticonderoga  in  1838,  was  subsequently 
broken  up. 

The  Horicon,  built  1876,  still  in  commission. 

Ticonderoga       "      1884,  burned  August  29,  1901. 

Sagamore  "      1902,  still  in  commission. 

Mohican  2d       "       1908. 

Lake  Champlain  steamer  Vermont,  built  1809. 
This  was  only  two  years  after  the  voyage  of  the 
Clermont  (1807) .  The  Vermont  was  sunk  in  October, 
1815. 

Phoenicc  1st  built  at  Vergennes  1815,  burned 
September,  1819. 

Champlain  built  at  Vergennes  1817,  broken  up 

Congress  "     "  "  1819,       "     "   " 

Phoenix  2d  "     "  "  1820,       " 

General  Greene    "     "  "  1825,       " 


3IO  Village  of  Lake  George 

Mr.  Curtis,  who  wrote  fifty  j^ears  ago,  was 
filled  probably  with  memories  of  Swiss  and  Italian 
lakes.  His  "  Em]3ress  "  is  persistent  with  her  ques- 
tion, "  Now  is  it  not  more  beautiful  than  Como  ? " 
They  were  strolling  upon  the  piazza,  "  while  the  moon 
paved  a  quivering  path  across  the  water  along  which 
thronged  enchanted  recollection."     He  says: 

"  It  was  an  unfortunate  question,  because  Lake 
Como  is  the  most  beautiful  lake  the  traveller  sees, 
and  because  the  details  of  comparison  were  instantly 
forced  upon  my  mind. 

"  Lake  George  is  a  simple  mountain  lake  upon  the 
verge  of  the  wilderness.  You  ascend  from  its  banks 
w^estward  and  plunge  into  a  wild  region.  The  hills 
that  frame  the  water  are  low  and  covered  with  the 
stiffly  outlined,  dark,  and  cold  foliage  of  evergreen. 
Among  these  are  no  signs  of  life.  You  might  well 
fancy  the  populace  of  the  primeval  forest  yet  hold- 
ing those  retreats.  You  might  still  dream  in  the 
twilight  that  it  were  not  impossible  to  catch  the  ring 
of  a  French  or  English  rifle,  or  the  wild  war-whoop 
of  the  Indian;  sure  that  the  landscape  you  see,  was 
the  same  they  saw,  and  their  remotest  ancestors. 
From  the  water  rise  the  rocks,  sometimes  solitary 
and  bearing  a  single  tree,  sometimes  massed  into  a 
bowery  island. 

"  We  gazed  dreamily  forth  over  the  lake  which 
the  moon  enchanted,  then  the  slow  beat  of  oars  pushed 
through  the  twilight,  and  directly  across  the  moon- 
paven  path  of  water  shot  a  skiff  with  female  figures 
only.     The  throb  of   oars   approached   and   singing 


Village  of  Lake  George  3 1 1 

voices  mingled  with  the  beat.  The  boat  drove 
silently  into  the  black  shadow  of  the  cove,  the  sing- 
ing ceased,  and  a  hushed  tumult  of  low  laughter 
trembled  through  the  trees.  For  a  moment  I  was 
a  South  Sea  Islander,  a  T3^peean,  a  Herman  ^lel- 
ville,  and  down  the  ruined  steps  I  ran  to  catch  a 
moonlight  glimpse  of  Faj^away,  but  saw  only  the  rip- 
pling brilliance  of  the  rapidly  fading  boat.  There- 
fore I  know  not  what  forms  thej'"  were,  nor  the 
moonlight  mj^steries  of  Lake  George. 

"  Lake  George  should  be  the  motto  of  a  song, 
rather  than  the  text  of  a  sermon,  I  know.  But  it 
is  beautiful  enough  to  make  moralizing  poetry.  It 
is  the  beauty  of  a  country  cousin,  the  diamond  in  the 
rough,  when  compared  with  the  absolute  elegance  and 
fascination  of  Como." 

It  would  seem  as  though  lotus-eating  did  not  en- 
tirely agree  with  his  digestion. 

In  this,  the  twentieth  century,  the  journey  to  Lake 
George  is  made  somewhat  easier  than  that  endured 
by  tourists  sixty  years  ago.  Leaving  the  New  York 
Central  at  an  early  morning  hour,  at  Albany,  in  three 
hours  j^ou  arrive  at  the  lake  by  rail. 

I  am  inclined  to  think  that  all  mankind  is  imbued 
wdth  love  of  country,  appreciation  of  beauty,  music, 
poetry,  of  hills,  lakes,  and  mountains,  "  few  in  the 
extreme  but  all  in  a  degree." 

The  immediate  vicinity  of  Lake  George  is  ap- 
proached by  rail,  winding  through  wooded  hills  that 
act  as  screens  to  obstruct  the  view  of  the  lake  until 
suddenly  this  lovely  sheet  of  water  with  its  evergreen 


312  Village  of  Lake  George 

environment  spreads  out  before  you,  so  bewitchingly 
beautiful  that  it  fills  one  with  emotional  serenity;  you 
do  not  care  to  speak,  you  are  glad  that  your  com- 
panion's eyes  are  dim  with  tears. 

Alighting  from  the  train  that  runs  onto  the  dock 
of  the  steamboat  landing,  tourists  take  omnibuses  to 
different  hotels,  but  above  you,  although  near  at  hand, 
you  become  aware  of  an  extensive  structure  with  a 
vast  colonnaded  fa9ade,  built  upon  the  site  of  Fort 
William  Henry,  part  of  the  earthworks  of  that 
fortress  being  plainly  visible  to  the  west  and  south. 

Curtis  scored  General  James  Caldwell  for  building 
a  large  hotel  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake,  instead 
of  the  head  of  the  lake,  and  on  the  land  now  occupied 
by  the  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel.^  While  w^e  are 
willing  to  acknowledge  that  it  is  an  ideal  site  for  a 
hotel,  still  I  like  to  think  that  the  General  had  an 
idea  of  the  fitness  of  things,  when  he  refused  to 
occupy  the  land,  hallowed  by  memories  of  the  un- 
availing defence  of  Colonel  Monro  and  his  brave 
men,  against  the  overwhelming  force  of  French  and 
Indians  under  General  Montcalm.  It  had  been  made 
a  charnel  house  of  men,  women,  and  children,  muti- 
lated, scalped,  and  burned,  when  the  fort  was,  by 
orders,  destroyed  by  fire.  With  evidences  of  that 
great  disaster  still  visible,  how  could  the  General  use 
the  land,  for  a  building  devoted  to  entertainments 
and  frivolous  festivity,  which  had  been  the  scene  of 
gruesome  savage  brutality? 

But  a  century  and  a  half  has  elapsed,  and  all  around 

^  This  hotel  has  recently  been  destroyed  by  fire. 


Village  of  Lake  George  313 

breathes  forth  peace  and  tranquillity.  The  hotel  is 
a  vast  stiTicture,  built  for  a  multitude.  Its  colonnaded 
piazza,  four  hundred  feet  in  length,  is  vast,  sj^m- 
metrical,  imposing,  and  the  environment  suggests 
peace  and  repose. 

Sitting  at  the  top  of  the  steps  which  lead  to  the 
vestibule  of  the  hotel,  one  looks  down  a  slight  de- 
clivity, to  the  boat  landing  a  few  hundred  feet  away. 
Easterly  a  grove  of  tall  pines  and  shrubbery  partly 
hide  the  lake  from  view.  To  the  west  a  dense  growth 
of  American  cypress  screens  bathers  from  view. 
Winding  paths  lead  to  the  village  half  a  mile  away, 
the  dense  evergreen  foliage  meeting  overhead,  making 
an  arbor-like  pass  of  grateful  shade. 

As  I  one  day  stood  at  the  top  of  the  steps,  gazing 
through  the  vista  of  foliage  and  flowers  down  the 
path  to  the  landing,  over  the  rippling  water  to  Dia- 
mond Island,  which  seems  to  stand  as  a  sentinel  mid- 
way from  shore,  beyond  to  the  mountains  touched 
with  sunlight,  and  on  to  the  blue  sky,  flecked  with 
fleecy  clouds,  and  still  beyond  into  the  purple  haze 
of  distance,  I  became  aware  that  a  gentleman  stood 
beside  me,  whose  gaze  was  accompanying  mine  on  its 
flight  to  the  distant  horizon. 

"  Is  there  another  as  beautiful  view  in  the  United 
States  as  this  survey  down  the  lake?"  he  asked. 
"  Yes,  one,"  I  replied  just  as  the  white  steamer 
Sagamore  came  into  view  off  Diamond  Island,  "  from 
the  deck  of  that  steamer,  looking  up  to  where  we 
stand,  taking  in  the  hotel  and  its  environment, 
together    with    a    glimpse    of    the    white    buildings 


314  Village  of  Lake  George 

of  the  village  on  the  west  and  Crosbyside  on  the 
east." 

To  the  southeast  is  the  old  road  to  Fort  Edward, 
on  the  eastern  border  of  which  is  the  ruin  of  old  Fort 
George,  and  on  a  slight  elevation  is  seen  the  statue 
of  Sir  William  Johnson  and  Chief  Hendrick,  erected 
to  commemorate  the  battle  of  Lake  George  in  1755. 
To  the  south  and  west,  and  also  to  the  east,  is  the 
marsh  that  offered  some  protection  to  the  garrison; 
lowlands  still,  but  the  swamp  has  practically  dis- 
appeared. The  old  garden  to  the  west  is  a  level 
sward,  now  used  for  tennis  and  base-ball,  through 
which  Montcalm  ran  trenches  and  established  a  bat- 
tery, not  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the  fort; 
all  signs  of  which  have  disaj)peared. 

In  reading  the  accounts  of  the  attack,  and  the  de- 
fence of  the  fort  by  the  gallant  and  brave  Colonel 
Monro,  I  am  reminded  of  Cooper's  JLast  of  the 
MohicanSj  and  Hawk-eye,  and  Uncas,  and  Chingach- 
gook  seem  to  be  hovering  on  the  wooded  slopes  of 
the  mountains ;  and  as  I  muse  with  my  gaze  fixed  on 
the  precipitous  height  of  Prospect  Mountain,  a  mist 
gathers,  and  as  it  becomes  dense,  I  imagine  that  some- 
where in  its  white  folds,  the  gentle  Alice  and  the 
more  vigorous  form  of  Cora,  with  her  beauty  en- 
hanced by  the  taint  of  the  blood  of  her  West  Indian 
mother.  La  Long  Carabine,  and  Duncan  are  approach- 
ing the  fort,  and  my  ear  is  strained  to  catch  some 
sound  that  will  indicate  their  presence,  as  Hawk-eye 
recklessly  leads  them  towards  the  fort,  by  the  furrow 
of  the   cannon-shot.     And   then  the   scene   of   that 


*'The  Last  of  the  Mohicans"  315 

terrible  rout  toward  Fort  Edward,  and  the  rescue 
of  the  maidens  by  their  sneering  arch-enemy  La 
Renard  Subtil,  looms  up  before  me,  and  I  follow 
them  through  the  Scarron  Valley,  and  up  into  the 
mountains;  and  then  follows  the  pathetic  picture  of 
the  pursuit  by  the  stricken  father,  and  Uncas,  Le 
Gros  Serpent,  Hayward,  and  Hawk-eye.  And 
finally  comes  the  tragic  ending  of  the  tale,  and  the 
fearful  murder  of  Cora,  and  the  killing  of  Uncas, 
and  the  retribution  which  at  last  reaches  the  w^ly 
Huron;  only  a  little  farther  north,  on  the  other  side 
of  those  western  mountains,  upon  which  my  eyes  are 
resting. 

Obsessed  by  the  tale,  I  live  in  the  past  unmindful 
of  twentieth-century  surroundings,  until  the  honk, 
honk  of  a  motor  car  dispells  the  vision. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  the  month  of  May, 
1909,  I  was  obsessed  with  a  desire  to  penetrate  the 
north  country  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  George. 
Former  visits  had  been  made  in  the  height  of  the 
tourist  season,  when  the  shores  of  the  lake  were  swarm- 
ing with  pleasure  seekers,  and  the  water  dotted  with 
bare-armed  and  bare-headed  girls  rowing  and  pad- 
dling, courting  the  rays  of  the  sun  for  browned  skin 
and  vigor  of  muscularity. 

At  last  a  day  came  when  nature  seemed  at  its  best, 
and  earth,  air,  and  sky  invited  a  tramp  over  hill  and 
dale.  It  was  a  veritable  "  call  of  the  wild."  If 
ever  the  trite  old  saying  "  Two  is  company  and  three 
is  a  crowd,"  is  true,  it  is  on  such  a  day  and  occasion. 


3i6  Village  of  Lake  George 

INIy  companion  had  also  felt  the  "  call."  Given  a 
man  in  the  early  prime  of  life,  an  artist,  a  poet,  with 
a  soul  filled  with  music  and  humor,  genial  and  truth- 
ful, and  such  a  lover  of  nature  that  he  would  not 
even  kill  a  snake,  what  more  could  a  man  want  in 
a  comrade?     Such  is  the  "  Professor  "  of  my  rambles. 

Steam-cars  carried  us  to  Glens  Falls,  where  we 
explored  Cooper's  Cave  and  were  carried  back  in 
memory  to  the  fugitives  in  the  cavern,  and  the 
wounded  Huron  in  the  tree,  hanging  over  the  abyss, 
while  his  life  blood  falls  dropwise  "  heavj^  one  by 
one  "  into  the  turbulent  waters  below,  "  like  the  first 
drops  from  a  thunder-cloud." 

We  also  turned  our  attention  to  the  falls  then  in 
full  volume.  Roaring  and  seething  the  water  dashed 
from  crag  to  crag,  lashed  into  creamy  foam  as  it 
poured  into  the  gorge,  where  the  dark  turbulent 
stream  panted  and  heaved,  like  a  huge  wild  beast 
after  the  chase. 

At  the  suggestion  of  the  Professor  we  boarded  a 
trolley  in  search  of  Bloody  Pond.  Interviewing  an 
official  all  blue  and  gilt,  I  inquired  if  he  would  let 
us  off  at  Bloody  Pond.  He  gave  me  a  stare  but  no 
answer.  Again  I  applied  for  information  and  re- 
ceived a  gruff  "  Yes  "  in  reply.  A  little  later  I 
essayed  to  inquire  if  the  car  would  stop  on  signal  to 
take  us  on  board  when  we  were  through  our  work. 
I  received  an  ambiguous  answer  from  his  High- 
mightiness,  that  quenched  all  desire  for  further  inter- 
course with  a  man  of  five  feet  three  inches,  who 
imagined  he  measured  six  feet  two. 


m 


«4-      T— I 

C    CO 


The  Call  of  the  Wild  2>i7 

Then  the  Professor  told  a  story  of  a  man  who 
remarked,  "  One  day  I  wanted  to  reach  Lake 
George  the  worst  way^  so  I  took  a  trolley-car." 
"  I  guess  this  was  the  car  he  took,"  continued  my 
comrade. 

We  reached  Bloody  Pond,  of  gruesome  memories, 
after  a  ride  of  about  twenty  minutes.  Climbing  a 
slight  acclivity  we  came  to  a  plateau  of  no  great  ex- 
tent, in  the  centre  of  which  we  found  the  pond.  It 
is  nearly  circular,  about  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
w^th  no  apparent  inlet  or  outlet.  It  is  probably 
maintained  by  the  drainage  from  hills  to  the  south, 
or  seepage  from  springs  under  the  pond.  Without 
its  traditions,  it  would  attract  no  attention.  With 
the  knowledge  of  its  tragedy,  we  imagined  the  water 
to  be  dark  and  gloomy,  although  clear  enough  to  re- 
veal masses  of  decaying  oak  leaves  on  its  bottom. 
Its  shore  is  about  half  encircled  by  a  thin  fringe  of 
trees  of  no  great  size,  among  which  the  white  bark 
of  the  birch,  the  gloomy  hemlock,  and  the  oak  and 
maple  were  visible. 

The  stillness  was  j^rofound:  no  sound  was  audible, 
no  birds  fluttered  near,  no  song  was  heard.  Even 
the  loathsome  frog  was  not  visible,  but  as  I  ap- 
proached the  shore,  two  snakes  scurried  in  front  of 
my  feet  and  disappeared  in  the  water.  My  attention 
was  soon  directed  to  what  appeared  to  be  a  floating 
branch,  about  four  feet  from  shore,  which  upon  close 
scrutiny  proved  to  be  the  larger  snake  standing  on 
his  tail  on  the  bottom  of  the  pond  with  head  and 
curved  neck  about  three   inches  above   the  surface. 


3i8  Village  of  Lake  George 

motionless,  watching  me.  I  never  imagined  that 
there  could  be  any  humor  in  a  reptile,  but  this  one 
was  evidentlj^  having  fun  with  me.  His  mouth  was 
slightlj^  open  and  his  forked  tongue  played  rapidly 
in  and  out,  while  his  eyes  shone  with  a  crystal  glitter. 
He  had  the  appearance  of  grinning  at  me.  Stepping 
back  about  ten  feet  I  saw  him  sink  to  the  bottom  of 
the  pond  and  draw  his  sinuous  length  along,  approach- 
ing the  edge  of  the  shore,  where  he  raised  his  head 
among  the  weeds,  still  with  that  grinning  look,  watch- 
ing me.  As  we  turned  our  backs  on  his  snakeship  I 
almost  expected  to  hear  a  cackling  laugh  and  a  hiss 
of  derision. 

To  the  east  we  had  a  background  of  the  precipitous 
side  of  French  INIountain,  which  falls  away  to  the 
southeast,  plainly  marking  the  site  of  the  ravine  of 
the  ambuscade  of  Dieskau's  forces  in  1755.  Near 
at  hand,  although  unmarked  and  unidentified,  is  the 
spot  where  Hendrick  fell,  and  in  front  of  us  and 
around  us  was  the  scene  of  the  attack  on  the  scalpers 
and  robbers,  who  returned  to  despoil  the  dead,  who  had 
fallen  in  the  "  morning  scout."  You  will  remember 
the  story: 

"  While  resting  themselves  near  a  pool  in  the  for- 
est, they  were  set  upon  by  a  scouting  party  from  Fort 
Lyman,  chiefly  backwoodsmen,  under  command  of 
Captains  Folsom  and  McGinnis.  The  assailants 
were  greatly  outnumbered.  But  after  a  hard  fight 
the  Canadians  and  Indians  fled.  The  bodies  of  the 
slain  were  thrown  into  the  pool,  which  bears  to  this 
day  the  name  of  Bloody  Pond." 


Prospect  Mountain  319 

As  the  episode  occurred  a  century  and  a  half  ago, 
it  is  not  strange  that  stories  connected  with  the  cam- 
paigns of  1755-59  should  receive  more  or  less 
embellishment  by  oral  transmission. 

I  have  found  on  printed  f)ages  of  late  dates  the 
following  exaggerations  of  the  story  of  "  Bloody 
Pond." 

A  mother  instructs  her  children  as  follows: 

"  During  the  Revolutionary  War  ( ?) ,  the  English 
killed  fifteen  hundred  women  and  children,  and  threw 
their  bodies  into  the  pond,  since  which  time  the  water 
has  been  the  color  of  blood." 

Again:  "Tradition  states  that  the  bodies  of  the 
dead,  to  the  number  of  two  hundred  and  upward, 
were  rolled  into  the  pool,  and  that  the  survivors  of  the 
action  walked  dry-shod  over  the  pond  on  the  piled-up 
corpses.  For  weeks  the  waters  bore  the  sanguinary 
stain  of  carnage,  and  gave  to  the  stagnant  pool  the 
significant  name  of  Bloody  Pond." 

Prospect  JNIountain,  rising  abruptly  to  the  west  of 
the  village  of  Lake  George,  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  the  scene  of  any  historic  event  of  importance. 
At  an  altitude  of  over  two  thousand  feet  its  bald 
rocky  summit  offers  a  panoramic  view  which  is  un- 
surpassed for  beauty  and  grandeur  by  any  elevation 
in  its  vicinity.  From  this  point  of  view  the  plain  of 
the  upper  Hudson  is  spread  out  before  the  observer 
to  the  south,  bounded  only  by  the  distant  horizon. 
To  the  east  French  JNIountain  and  the  contiguous 
mountain  range  obstruct  the  line  of  vision  and  at  the 
same  time  form  a  background  both  grand  and  beauti- 


320  Lost  on  the  Trail 

ful  to  the  glorious  and  entrancing  sheet  of  crystal 
water  that  laves  the  base. 

To  the  north  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  or  until 
the  prospect  fades  away  in  the  haze  of  distance,  peak 
after  peak  of  the  Adirondack  wilderness  is  visible, 
dwarfed  by  distance  into  miniature  hills  of  enchanting 
beauty  covered  by  virgin  forests  in  all  of  the  ex- 
quisite shades  of  green  and  olive.  And,  as  the  sun- 
light floods  the  landscape,  threads  of  silver  and 
patches  of  glistening  blue  mark  the  mountain  streams 
and  placid  lakes  that  lie  scattered  throughout  this 
primeval  wilderness.  In  the  immediate  foreground 
you  become  aware  that  you  are  standing  on  a  rocky 
precipice  of  great  height,  at  whose  foot  you  gaze 
into  the  tops  of  trees  so  closely  woven  that  one  could 
imagine  that  a  pathway  might  be  made  across  their 
tops.  A  few  years  ago  an  elevated  railway  ran 
straight  to  the  top  from  the  level  of  the  village.  For 
want  of  capital  or  for  some  other  good  reason  this 
railroad  has  been  out  of  commission  for  a  year  or  two, 
but  I  trust  that  it  will  spring  into  life  again  in  a 
short  time,  as  it  is  an  easy  way  to  approach  the  sum- 
mit of  a  mountain,  a  view  from  which  will  furnish  an 
exquisite  sensation,  the  memory  of  which  will  remain 
with  a  lover  of  nature  for  years.  It  is  tiTie  that  from 
this  precipice  we  look  down  upon  a  wild  peak  a  thou- 
sand feet  below  that  has  a  fearsome  name,  "  Rattle- 
snake Cobble,"  but  if  there  are  snakes  there,  they 
are  hidden  by  the  glorious  vegetation.  We  are  not 
aware  that  there  is  any  wagon  road  direct  to  this 
bald  peak,  but  are  told  of  a  trail  which,  though  long. 


Lost  on  the  Trail  321 

is  easily  surmounted ;  a  mountain  road  through  a  pass 
to  the  north  brings  one  within  a  thousand  feet  of  the 
summit  but  a  mile  or  two  away. 

In  the  summer  of  1906  two  j^oung  girls  desiring  to 
spend  the  month  of  August  amid  the  sylvan  beauties 
of  Lake  George  secured  rooms  at  a  farmliouse,  a 
few  miles  from  Lake  George  village,  situated  on  the 
path  spoken  of  above,  but  near  the  foot  of  Prospect 
Mountain.  From  the  pass  a  well-defined  and  com- 
paratively easy  trail  leads  to  the  summit.  On  a  pre- 
vious visit  they  had  accompanied  a  party  over  this 
trail  and  were  familiar  with  it. 

One  beautiful  morning  in  August  these  young 
girls  wandered  listlessly  along  this  trail,  their  ob- 
jective point  being  a  cool  spring  farther  up  the  moun- 
tain. Both  had  rude  alpenstocks  and  the  younger 
one  had  provided  herself  with  a  collapsible  drinking 
cup,  and  The  Lady  of  the  Decoration,  "  to  learn 
how  to  swear  artistically,"  she  remarked  to  her  com- 
panion. 

Both  were  young  yet  not  alike  in  youth.  Hazel  be- 
ing on  the  verge  of  sixteen,  while  Janet  was  twenty, 
with  pleasing  countenance  and  the  frank  blue-gray 
eyes  occasionally  seen  in  the  firm,  clean-cut  feat- 
ures of  a  blonde.  Halting  at  the  spring  for  rest 
after  a  somewhat  arduous  climb  up  the  trail,  they  re- 
freshed themselves  from  the  cool  waters  of  the  spring 
and  spent  a  little  time  in  gay  jest  and  laughter,  and 
as  they  at  last  arose  to  continue  their  ramble,  ap- 
proached an  opening  along  the  edge  of  the  path  where 
from  a  rocky  ledge,  they  looked  down  a  hundred  feet 


322  Lost  on  the  Trail 

or  more  into  the  tops  of  lofty  pines,  beeches,  and 
maples,  and  the  sturdy  oak  whose  foliage  mingling 
with  the  dark  evergreen  of  spruce,  hemlock,  and  cedar, 
made  a  foreground  which  seemed  to  be  a  carpet  of 
manifold  shades  of  green,  over  which  the  blue  waters 
of  the  lake  were  visible  dotted  here  and  there  with 
canoes  and  sailboats.  The  joyous  laughter  and  gay 
songs  of  the  sailors  were  borne  upward  to  our  moun- 
taineers, mingled  with  the  hoarse  whistle  of  the 
Horicon,  the  defiant  shriek  of  the  motor-boats,  and 
the  punk,  punk,  punk,  of  their  diminutive  engines. 
The  girls  stood  together  in  the  sunlight  gazing  in 
silence  at  the  picturesque  scene  below,  while  all  around 
were  voices  of  the  forest.  The  gurgle  of  the  spring, 
the  soughing  of  the  trees,  the  brief  songs  of  the  birds, 
the  humming  of  insects,  emphasized  the  profound 
stillness  of  the  lonely  trail. 

Turning  from  their  outlook,  Janet  girdled  and 
shortened  her  flowing  gown,  took  up  her  staff  and 
proposed  that  they  should  continue  up  the  trail  to 
the  top  of  the  mountain,  take  lunch,  and  enjoj''  the 
view  from  the  summit.  Leisurely  they  journeyed  up- 
ward and  at  last  arrived  at  the  bald  top  of  the  moun- 
tain and  made  their  way  at  once  to  the  restaurant, 
too  hungry  and  weary  to  care  for  the  beauties  of 
nature  spread  below  and  around  them.  Here  they 
rested  and  refreshed  themselves  and  at  last  thor- 
oughly invigorated  wandered  out  to  enjoy  the  pano- 
rama of  mountains,  hills  and  vallej^s,  hamlets,  stream 
and  lakes,  spread  out  before  their  eyes  whichever 
way  they  wandered.     Absorbed  and  silent,  they  drank 


Lost  on  the  Trail  323 

in  the  beauties  of  the  landscape  while  time  went  on 
unnoticed. 

To  the  west  the  glorious  sun,  yet  high  in  the  heavens 
was  tinting  the  gathering  clouds  peeping  above  the 
distant  horizon,  with  such  transcendent  colors  that 
they  did  not  heed  or  rather  did  not  comprehend  the 
significance  of  the  solid  bank  of  sombre  clouds  mass- 
ing low  down  in  the  west.  All  at  once  Janet  heard 
an  attendant  exclaim  in  a  matter-of-fact  tone,  "  Storm 
clouds."  Aroused  she  looked  at  her  watch  and  found 
that  the  day  was  nearly  spent  and  that  the  tourists 
were  all  gone. 

Fresh  and  full  of  vigor,  the  girls  set  out  along  the 
trail  for  the  farmhouse  five  miles  awa}^  Although 
the  gloom  of  the  forest  seemed  to  deepen,  and  the 
ominous  mutter  of  distant  thunder  in  the  west  brought 
anxious  thoughts  to  Janet,  still,  on  the  downward 
trail,  the  first  mile  of  descent  was  covered  with  ease. 
But  the  darkness  came  on  apace,  the  glare  of  light- 
ning was  seen  through  tree-tops,  and  it  needed 
vigilant  attention  to  distinguish  the  path  in  the 
gathering  gloom. 

Suddenly  the  black  clouds  seemed  to  envelop  the 
mountain,  and  the  darkness  became  intense  and  the 
tree-tops  swayed  and  groaned  in  a  mighty  wind. 
The  girls,  thoroughly  alarmed,  clung  together  under 
a  lofty  pine,  when,  with  a  blinding  glare  and  with  a 
rattling  crash  of  heaven's  artillery,  followed  by  a 
booming  roar  that  seemed  to  fill  the  whole  universe, 
the  flood  gates  of  the  storm  poured  dowTi  upon  them. 
The  blinding  flash,  the  booming  thunder  which  seemed 


324  Lost  on  the  Trail 

to  roll  down  the  mountain  bounding  from  diff  to 
chff,  the  swish  of  the  tree- tops,  the  rending  and  fall- 
ing of  some  monarch  of  the  forest,  brought  terror 
when  they  realized  that  in  their  bewilderment  they 
had  wandered  from  the  trail  and  could  not  regain  it; 
and  when  the  vast  sheets  of  chilly  water  seemed  to 
envelop  them  as  with  a  flood,  they  sank  to  the  sodden 
earth  in  dismay,  in  affright.  Thus  they  lay  with 
brains  sodden  with  terror,  half  unconscious,  wholly 
despairing.  The  storm  rolled  on,  the  lightning  be- 
came fitful,  while  the  thunder,  in  the  distance,  seemed 
to  bound  from  mountain-top  to  mountain-top  and 
gradually  ceased  its  growling,  like  a  wild  beast  that 
had  fought  and  vanquished  its  foe. 

With  the  passing  of  the  storm  came  the  fear  of 
forest  life,  and  in  the  intense  darkness  of  the  night 
they  seemed  to  hear  the  panting  of  the  beasts  of  prey 
and  the  hiss  of  reptiles.  Once  they  thought  they 
heard  the  sound  of  a  gunshot,  and  then  with  listening 
ear,  a  faint  halloo  below  them,  but  they  knew  not 
north,  south,  east,  or  west  and  barely  earth  or  sky, 
their  despair  was  so  overwhelming. 

They  dared  not  lie  on  the  earth  for  fear  of  crawling 
things,  and  hastily  arising,  clung  together  as  they 
groped  in  the  darkness  and  found  the  support  of  a 
tree  to  which  they  clung  as  though  it  was  human. 

At  last  with  eyes  wild  and  staring,  trying  to  pierce 
the  impenetrable  darkness,  and  with  a  frenzy  akin  to 
madness,  Janet  with  all  her  soul  and  strength  sent 
out  a  wailing  cry  for  help  and  buried  her  face  on 
Hazel's  shoulder.     "  Hark,"  she  cried  in  a  whisper. 


On  the  Pi'o.spect  Mounlain  Trail. 


Rescue  325 

Far  away  down  the  mountain  was  heard  the  faintest 
sound  of  a  human  cry,  so  faint  that  it  seemed  to  the 
poor  girl  but  the  echo  of  her  own  despairing  voice. 
But  with  the  strength  of  a  trained  vocaHst,  she  again 
pealed  forth  a  long-drawn  halloo.  Bending  forward 
she  eagerly  waited  for  a  response.  It  came  in  a 
pistol-shot,  and  then  a  well-known  human  call  in  three 
notes,  faint  but  distinct.  Hazel  lay  at  the  foot  of 
the  tree  in  a  deep  sleep  of  exhaustion,  but  Janet  stood 
forth  under  the  dripping  leaves,  and  with  hands 
crossed  on  her  breast  and  face  raised  to  heaven,  she 
sang  with  the  full  power  of  her  glorious  voice,  "  Praise 
God."  Answering  shots  came  from  all  directions 
mingled  with  joyous  though  distant  cries,  and  she 
continued  to  respond  with  snatches  of  songs  that  rang 
out  joyously,  hopefully,  through  the  cathedral  aisles 
of  the  forest.  Soon  she  saw  the  glimmer  of  a  lantern, 
then  five,  ten,  twenty  lights  twinkling  in  a  semicircle 
so  far  away  that  they  seemed  like  the  faint  glimmer 
of  fire-flies.  Still  she  walked  in  a  circumscribed 
circle  around  the  tree  at  the  foot  of  which  Hazel 
slumbered  sobbingly.  Arousing  her,  Janet  told  of 
the  rescuing  party  near  at  hand,  and  kept  her  moving 
to  arouse  the  sluggish  blood  in  the  chilled  veins,  still 
answering  the  cries  that  came  louder  and  louder,  until 
with  a  cry  of  joy  the  rescuers  sprang  through  the 
thickets. 

Wrapped  in  blankets  brought  by  their  friends, 
Janet  and  Hazel,  with  a  man  on  each  side,  were  hur- 
ried down  the  trail,  preceded  by  a  score  of  lanterns. 
Notwithstanding  dishevelled  hair,  tear-stained  faces, 


326  Rescue 

and  drenched  garments  clinging  to  their  chilled  forms, 
it  was  a  happy  party  that  entered  the  hospitable  doors 
of  the  old  farmhouse  in  the  early  dawn  of  a  glorious 
day. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


DIAMOND   ISLAND 


"  AAT'HAT  island  is  that  we  are  coming  to?"  the 
'  »  Professor  asked  the  oarsman  who  was 
rowing  our  boat. 

"  Diamond  Island,"  replied  Joe. 

"  Why,  that  must  be  the  island  that  was  fortified 
during  the  Revolutionary  War,"  I  remarked. 

"  Sure,"  replied  Joe. 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  the  story  about  that  island? " 
continued  Joe,  as  we  passed  it. 

"  No!  tell  it,"  said  the  Professor. 

"  Well,  it  was  many  years  ago,  and  I  had  the  story 
from  my  father  who  said  it  was  true. 

"  It  was  after  the  Revolution  and  the  settlers  had 
a  hard  time  to  make  both  ends  meet.  A  man  by  the 
name  of  Jost  Storm  kept  a  lot  of  hogs  near  the  shore 
of  the  lake  which  he  would  kill  and  sell  as  pork,  and 
at  times  sell  them  '  on  the  hoof.'  One  day  he  sold 
six  hogs  and  a  boar  to  a  farmer  on  the  other  side  of 
the  lake,  agreeing  to  deliver  them. 

"  I  forgot  to  tell  you  that  at  that  time  there  were 
a  great  many  rattlesnakes  on  Diamond  Island,  hun- 
dreds of  them,  some  say  thousands.  At  least  there 
were  so  many  of  them  tliat  no  one  dared  go  near  it. 

327 


328  Diamond  Island- 

Father  said  that  there  were  so  many  and  they  were 
so  bold  that  they  would  swim  out  to  passing  boats, 
seemingly  to  attack  them. 

"  Well,  one  morning  old  man  Storm  started  out  in 
a  bateau  to  deliver  the  hogs  to  the  purchaser  across 
the  lake,  and  the  nearest  way  to  reach  his  place  was 
to  go  by  the  island.  The  boat  was  not  very  large 
for  a  bateau,  and  the  seven  hogs  and  the  man  and 
his  son  loaded  it  down  pretty  well.  I  don't  know 
exactly  how  it  happened,  but  the  hogs  all  at  once 
rushed  to  the  side  of  the  boat,  which  careened  and 
filled,  and  in  a  moment  the  whole  cargo  was  in  the 
water.  Father  said  that  the  hogs  smelled  the  rattle- 
snakes. 

"  Well,  sir,  the  hogs  swam  straight  for  the  island 
and  disappeared  in  the  brush,  but  the  boat,  relieved 
of  its  load,  floated  to  the  surface  and,  although  water- 
logged, made  a  very  good  raft,  and  the  men,  leaving 
the  hogs  among  the  rattlesnakes,  paddled,  somehow, 
to  shore." 

"Well,  what  became  of  the  hogs?"  asked  the 
Professor. 

Joe  laughed  quietly  as  he  said:  "You  know  that 
the  man  who  owned  the  hogs  did  not  dare  go  after 
them  out  of  fear  of  the  rattlers,  and  winter  coming 
on,  he  was  taken  sick,  and  having  but  little  ambition, 
he  gave  up  the  hogs  as  lost,  being  sure  that  they 
were  soon  killed  by  the  snakes.  But  during  the  com- 
ing summer,  his  son  Jim,  a  vigorous  fearless  young 
man,  would  occasionally  remark  to  the  old  man, 
'  Father,  I  wonder  what  has  become  of  those  hogs.'  " 


Diamond  Island  329 

"  '  I  don't  know  and  I  don't  care,'  Mr.  Storm  would 
reply. 

"  Nearly  three  years  after,  Jim  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  would  find  out,  so  he  arranged  with  a  friend 
that  they  should  visit  the  island  and  learn,  if  possible, 
what  had  become  of  the  hogs.  Protecting  themselves 
with  long  heavy  boots,  thick  gloves,  heavy  sheepskin 
coats,  and  armed  with  shotguns,  a  good  supply  of 
buckshot,  and  two  hickory  clubs,  they  took  boat  and 
pushed  from  shore  without  making  known  to  any 
one  the  object  of  their  excursion. 

"  Slowly  they  approached  the  shore  of  Diamond 
Island,  watching  closely  for  rattlesnakes,  which  had 
always  been  visible  along  the  beach,  but  none  were 
seen.  Cautiously  they  went  ashore  and  approached 
the  higher  ground,  but  no  snakes  were  visible,  and 
nothing  was  seen  of  the  hogs.  (They  did,  however, 
have  the  satisfaction  of  killing  one  snake  a  little 
later. ) 

"  Growing  bolder  they  explored  the  whole  island 
and  at  last,  in  a  clearing  they  saw  a  hog-wallow  and 
near  at  hand  they  found  the  hogs.  But  instead  of 
seven  there  were  sixteen  of  the  fattest  hogs  they  ever 
saw,  but  not  a  snake  except  the  lonesome  one  they 
had  killed. 

"  It  took  three  trips  with  the  bateau  to  get  those 
hogs  ashore. 

"  As  it  was  hog-killing  time,  they  killed  a  few  of 
the  hogs,  and  sir,  every  one  they  killed  was  full  of 
rattlesnakes." 

You  must  know  that   the   Professor  has   a  very 


330  Diamond  Island 

innocent,  childlike  expression,  which  he  puts  on  once 
in  a  while.  Turning  to  Joe  he  asked,  "  Were  they 
alive?" 

"  Some  of  them,'*  replied  Joe  without  a  smile. 

After  a  pause  he  continued:  "  There  was  another 
queer  thing  about  those  hogs.  One  of  them  had  a 
litter  of  pigs  shortly  afterwards,  and  sir,  every  one 
of  the  piglets  had  a  rattle  on  the  end  of  its  tail." 

We  floated  on  in  silence. 

"But,"  said  the  Professor,  "  he  did  not  sell  the  pork, 
did  he?" 

"  Yes,  one  man  made  some  sausages  of  the  pork. 
He  said  it  tasted  all  right,  but  he  had  to  watch  it 
while  frying,  because  it  tried  to  crawl  out  of  the 
frying-pan." 

"  But,  Joe,"  said  I,  "  history  tells  us  that  there 
were  entrenchments  on  the  island  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, what  has  become  of  them?  " 

"  Hogs,"  said  Joe. 

"  What  do  3^ou  mean  by  *  hogs  '?  "  said  I. 

"  Why,  the  hogs  levelled  the  entrenchments  root- 
ing for  rattlesnakes." 

In  Holden's  History  of  Queenshury,  I  find  the 
following  account  of  the  incident  at  Diamond  Island. 

In  September,  1777,  Baron  Riedesel,  while  located 
at  the  old  site  of  Fort  Amherst  in  the  vicinity  of 
Halfway  Brook,^  sent  back  some  supplies  to  Diamond 
Island,  near  the  south  end  of  Lake  George,  and  two 
companies  of  the  47th  Regiment  to  garrison  the  place. 

^  The  primitive  fortification  at  Halfway  Brook  was  sometimes 
called  Fort  Amherst. 


c 


Attack  on  Diamond  Island  331 

The  entrenchments  of  the  post  were  placed  in  com- 
mand of  Captain  Aubrey  of  the  47th.  Somewhat 
later  his  force  M-as  strengthened  by  the  addition  of 
a  company  of  artillery. 

On  September  24th,  Colonel  Brown,  then  in  pos- 
session of  the  outworks  of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  sent  an 
expedition  of  captured  gunboats  and  bateaux,  in  two 
divisions  to  attack  Diamond  Island.  The  British 
account  says:  "  The  enemy  were  repulsed  by  Captain 
Aubrey  with  great  loss  and  pursued  by  gunboats 
under  his  command  to  the  east  shore,  where  two  of 
their  principal  vessels  were  retaken  together  with  all 
their  cannon. 

"  They  had  just  time  to  set  fire  to  the  other  bateaux 
and  retreat  over  the  mountains." 

The  British  batteries  were  placed  at  the  north  end 
of  the  island.  After  Colonel  Brown's  repulse,  he 
was  driven  into  Van  Wormer's  Bay,  when,  after  de- 
stroying his  bateaux,  he  made  his  way  across  the 
Dresden  Mountains,  to  Skenesboro,  which  had  been 
taken  possession  of  by  General  Lincoln  on  the  17th, 
with  a  force  of  seven  hundred  men. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

THE  FORTY-FIFTH  PARALLEL  OF  NORTH  LATITUDE 

'T'HE  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
^  Britain  which  terminated  the  War  of  1812  was 
held  at  Ghent,  Belgium,  in  the  summer  of  1814  and 
ratified  February  17,  1815. 

We  have  nothing  to  do  at  the  present  time  with 
any  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  except  that  which 
provides  for  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  line, 
known  in  the  Treaty  of  1783  as  the  forty-fifth 
parallel. 

I  am  indebted  to  State  Historian  Victor  Hugo 
Paltsits  for  the  following  valuable  information,  which 
he  derived  from  an  examination  of  Prof.  John 
Bassett  JNIoore's  History  and  Digest  of  the  Inter- 
national Arbitrations  to  which  the  United  States  has 
been  a  Party,  vol.  i.  (Washington,  1898),  pp.  80, 
104-5,  106,  112,  119,  127,  135-6,  150-1. 

After  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States  appointed  commissioners  for  surveying 
and  exploring  the  boundaries  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  It  was  during  the  life  of  this 
joint  commission  that  most  surprising  differences 
arose  over  the  forty-fifth  parallel  of  north  latitude. 
In  the  autumn  of  1818  Dr.  Tiarks  and  Mr.  Hassler, 
then  the  British  and  American  astronomers,  discov- 

332 


bJD 

C3 

o 
Q 
<v 

O 

a 
O 


Forty-fifth  Parallel  333 

ered,  apparently  to  the  consternation  of  both  of  them, 
that  just  east  of  Lake  Champlain  the  true  parallel 
lay  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  south  of  the  "  Old 
Line,"  which  was  surveyed  in  the  preceding  century. 
Less  than  half  a  mile  to  the  south  of  this  line  lay  the 
fort  at  Rouse  Point,  which  had  been  constructed  by 
the  United  States  at  a  cost  of  a  million  dollars  and 
which  was  believed  to  be  of  great  strategic  value ;  and 
near  by  was  a  new  work  in  course  of  construction ;  so 
that  it  seemed  that  both  forts  were  in  British  territory. 
There  was  no  doubt  as  to  the  fact.  The  old  line 
was  in  certain  parts  erroneous.  The  British  and 
American  commissioners  disagreed  and  adjourned 
in  1821,  subject  to  the  pleasure  of  their  respective 
governments. 

The  failure  of  the  above  mentioned  commissioners, 
under  Article  V.  of  the  Treaty  of  Ghent,  to  render 
a  decision  on  the  northeastern  boundary  question,  im- 
posed upon  the  two  governments  the  duty  of  refer- 
ring the  "  reports  of  the  said  commissioners  to  some 
friendly  sovereign  or  State  to  be  then  named  for  that 
purpose"  (Treaty  of  December  24,  1814,  Article 
IV.).  As  now  known,  they  referred  the  matter  to 
King  William  of  the  Netherlands,  who,  on  January 
10,  1831,  rendered  his  award  as  arbitrator,  including 
the  following  opinion,  viz.: 

"  That  in  determining  the  latitude  of  places  it  is 
customary  to  follow  the  principle  of  the  observed 
latitude ; 

"  And  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
of  America  has  erected  certain  fortifications  at  the 


334  Forty-fifth  Parallel 

place  called  Rouse  Point,  under  the  impression  that 
the  ground  formed  part  of  their  territory — an  im- 
pression sufficiently  authorized  by  the  circumstance 
that  the  line  had,  until  then,  been  reputed  to  corre- 
spond with  the  45th  degree  of  north  latitude; 

"  AVE  ARE  OF  OPINION  I 

"  That  it  would  be  suitable  to  proceed  to  fresh 
operations  to  measure  the  observed  latitude  in  order 
to  mark  out  the  boundary  from  the  river  Connecticut 
along  the  parallel  of  the  45th  degree  of  north  lati- 
tude to  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  named  in  the  treaties 
Iroquois  or  Cataraquy,  in  such  manner  however  that, 
in  all  cases,  at  the  place  called  Rouse  Point,  the 
territory  of  the  United  States  of  America  shall  ex- 
tend to  the  fort  erected  at  that  place,  and  shall  in- 
clude said  fort  and  its  kilometrical  radius  {rayon 
hilometnque) . 

In  effect,  the  arbitrator  held  that  the  forty-fifth 
parallel  of  north  latitude  should  be  detemiined  by 
the  customary  principle  of  observed  latitude,  with- 
out regard  to  prior  surveys,  but  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  the  United  States  should  be  left  in  the 
possession  of  the  fort  at  Rouse  Point.  This  opin- 
ion was  actually  accepted  by  the  Ashburton  Treaty 
of  1842. 

From  The  Northern  Traveller,  published  by  A.  T. 
Goodrich  (New  York,  1826,  p.  186). 

ROUSE  POINT,  12  miles. 

"  There  is  a  village  by  this  name,  on  the  western 
side;  and  a  mile  beyond  it. 

"  The  fort,  which  is  a  kind  of  large  castle,  is  built 


•■■i^-'^^' 


Fort  Blunder  335 

of  hewn  stone,  with  perpendicular  walls,  and  three 
tiers  of  embrasures.  It  stands  at  the  end  of  a  low 
point,  and  was  built  to  command  the  passage  of  the 
lake  during  the  last  war.  On  running  the  line  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  the  commissioners  at 
first  fixed  the  boundary  a  little  south  of  this  place, 
so  as  to  bring  the  fort  within  the  limits  of  the  latter; 
but  in  consequence  of  the  line  agreed  on  by  the  treaty 
coming  too  near  Quebec,  it  was  determined  that  an 
arrangement  should  be  made  for  the  benefit  of  both 
parties;  and  the  boundary  has  been  left  in  its  former 
place.  An  opening  through  the  woods,  like  a  road, 
marks  the  place,  about  half  a  mile  north  of  the  fort." 
From  French's  Gazetteer'  of  1860  I  cull  additional 
information. 

Rouse  Point  is  named  for  Jacques  Rouse  a  Cana- 
dian who  settled  here  in  1753.  A  bridge  a  mile  long 
here  crosses  the  lake.  A  floating  draw  of  three 
hundred  feet,  opened  and  shut  by  steam,  admits  the 
passage  of  vessels. 

About  one  mile  north  of  the  village,  upon  the  banks 
of  the  lake.  Fort  Montgomery  is  situated.  This  fort 
commands  the  entrance  to  the  lake.  It  w^as  begun 
soon  after  the  War  of  1812,  but  in  1818,  it  was  found 
to  be  within  the  limits  of  Canada  and  the  work  was 
abandoned.  It  became  known  as  "  Fort  Blunder," 
but  b}^  the  Webster  Treaty  of  1842,  it  w^as  ceded  again 
to  the  United  States.  Work  upon  it  has  been  re- 
sumed, and  it  is  estimated  that  the  completed  works 
will  cost  $600,000  of  which  $275,000  has  already  been 
expended. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

BOLTON — MOHICAN    HOUSE,    EN    ROUTE   NORTH 

I  AKE  GEORGE,  located  entirely  in  Warren 
^-^  County,  is  bordered  on  the  west  by  the  towns 
of  Caldwell,  Bolton,  Hague,  and  a  part  of  Ticon- 
deroga,  all  of  whose  boundaries  extend  to  the  east 
shore  of  the  lake;  this  line  also  being  the  eastern 
boundary  of  Warren  County. 

The  town  of  Bolton  is  perhaps  the  oldest  settle- 
ment on  the  lake,  having  been  formed  from  the  town 
of  Thurman  in  1799;  the  town  of  Hague  being  taken 
from  Bolton  in  1807.  Rogers  Rock,  which  rises  from 
the  water's  edge  at  an  angle  of  45°,  and  reaches  an 
elevation  of  three  hundred  feet,  and  Sabbath-day 
Point  on  the  lake,  are  also  in  the  town  of  Hague. 
Sabbath-day  Point  is  generally  supposed  to  have  re- 
ceived its  name  from  the  fact  that  General  Aber- 
crombie  embarked  from  this  point  on  a  Sunday,  July 
8,  1758,  for  his  disastrous  attack  on  Fort  Ticonde- 
roga.  It  is  said,  however,  to  have  borne  this  name 
previous  to  that  date,  even  as  early  as  1756  (see 
Rogers's  Journal) . 

Within  the  limits  of  this  town  is  the  most  beautiful 
scenery  on  the  lake,  comprising,  as  it  does,  a  mul- 
titude of  islands,  small  and  great,  and  in  its  fore- 

336 


be 


r3 

o 


Bolton  337 

ground  Elephant  JSIountain,  Black  JNIountain,  Buck 
Mountain,  Pilot  jNIountain,  and  Tongue  Mountain, 
Avhile  its  western  boundarj^  is  the  picturesque  Scarron 
River  and  lake. 

There  are  many  natural  elements  that  conspire 
to  make  the  water  boundaries  of  the  town  both 
beautiful  and  grand.  I  have  spoken  of  the  moun- 
tains, and  the  great  Black  Mountain,  and  the 
noble  outline  of  Buck  Mountain,  and  the  grouping 
of  the  many  islands,  especially  those  of  the  nar- 
rows, about  two  miles  north  of  Bolton  Landing,  but 
the  islands  of  the  narrows  extend  for  nine  miles 
north,  in  picturesque  confusion,  and  while  steaming 
north  one  gives  up  all  hope  of  counting  them  and  is 
content  to  assume  that  the  popular  opinion  of  their 
number,  that  is,  an  island  for  each  day  in  the  year, 
is  correct  with,  perhaps,  a  few  odds  and  ends  thrown 
in  for  leap  year. 

A  visitor  landing  from  the  steamer  is  apt  to  think 
that  he  sees  all  there  is  of  Bolton,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Bolton  Landing,  where  visitors  congregate  on  account 
of  the  hotels.  In  this  vicinity  is  the  quaint  little 
Church  of  St.  Sacrement,  perpetuating  the  name 
given  to  the  lake  by  the  Jesuit  Father  Isaac  Jogues. 

A  little  farther  south  along  the  main  road  and 
a  cross-road,  we  come  to  Bolton  proper,  which  bears 
the  euphonious  name  of  the  Huddle;  and  that  por- 
tion of  Bolton  Bay  in  the  vicinity  of  the  hamlet  is 
also  called  Huddle  Bay. 

I  have  frequently  stopped  at  the  Algonquin  Hotel, 
which  is  situated  on  Huddle  Bay.     The  route  of  the 


33^  Huddle  Bay 

steamer  is  about  one-half  mile  to  the  east,  passing 
between  Dome  Island  on  the  east  and  Recluse  Island 
on  the  west.  From  the  shore,  Huddle  Bay  appears 
to  be  landlocked;  the  arrangement  of  the  number  of 
small  islands  being  such,  that  the  white  steamers  can- 
not be  seen  from  the  shore,  except  for  a  fleeting  in- 
stant through  the  trees  of  Clay  Island.  There  is 
something  weird  in  the  unexpected  passing  of  the 
silent  vessel,  which  appears  and  disappears,  that  is 
fairly  ghostly,  suggesting,  as  it  does,  a  twentieth  cen- 
tury Flying  Dutchman.  This  cluster  of  small  islands 
which  landlock  this  sheet  of  water  are  named  as 
follows:  Sweetbriar,  Leontine,  Hiawatha,  Clay, 
and  Recluse  Island.  A  short  peninsula  to  the  north 
helps  to  shut  in  this  quiet  spot.  The  bay  being  shal- 
low, steamers  cannot  approach,  but  a  nondescript  ves- 
sel, which  looks  like  a  cross  between  a  mud-scow  and 
an  Erie  Canal  tug,  transports  baggage  and  pas- 
sengers to  the  secluded  hotels  in  the  Huddle.  Back 
of  the  Algonquin  Hotel,  a  range  of  hills  rises  to  an 
elevation  of  six  or  seven  hundred  feet,  giving  an  early 
twilight,  whereas  the  ponderous  bulk  of  Buck  Moun- 
tain, on  the  other  side  of  the  lake,  is  still  bathed  in 
sunlight  three  hours  later. 

One  afternoon  I  sat  in  the  boat-house,  enjoying  the 
blue  of  the  waters  of  the  bay,  the  bright  green  of  the 
wooded  islands  in  the  foreground,  the  sombre  tints  of 
old  Buck  Mountain  and  the  fleckless  blue  of  the  sky. 
Suddenly  the  boom  and  rumble  of  thunder  broke 
upon  the  ear,  and  looking  up  I  became  aware  that 
thunder-clouds  had  stolen  up  behind  the  hills  back 


m 
"S 


o 


Bolton  Road  339 

of  the  hotel,  and  it  needed  a  hurry  and  a  scurry  to 
escape  a  wetting  before  I  could  reach  the  hotel  not 
a  hundred  yards  away. 

^ly  last  visit  to  Bolton  was  in  the  early  part  of 
July,  1909,  when  preparation  had  been  completed  for 
the  grand  Tercentenary  of  the  Occupation  of  the 
Champlain  Valley  by  Samuel  de  Champlain,  in  1609. 
The  grand  Fort  William  Henry  Hotel,  with  its 
beautiful  fa9ade  of  Corinthian  columns,  lay  a  smok- 
ing ruin  and  had  almost  a  tearful  aspect  to  those  who 
had  lolled  at  ease  on  its  grand  piazza  and  contem- 
plated the  unrivalled  beauty  of  the  scenery  from  its 
leafy  environment. 

The  Bolton  road  was  our  objective  point.  It  is 
said  that  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view,  but 
we  found  so  many  charming  views  of  handsome  villas, 
near  at  hand,  some  beautified  by  artistic  landscape 
gardening,  others  embowered  in  primitive  forest 
growths,  that  the  time  sped  as  fast  as  our  auto- 
mobile, and  the  twilight  of  a  beautiful  July  day  came 
all  too  soon.  The  camera  gave  us  the  first  memento 
of  this  trip  with  a  view  of  Tea  Island,  about  a  mile 
north  of  the  village  of  Lake  George.  We  lingered 
a  while  along  the  rock-bound  shore,  north  of  the 
Marion  House,  but  hurried  on  to  landlocked  Huddle 
Bay  (Bolton),  at  which  point  the  Professor  was  so 
obsessed  with  artistic  fervor,  that  he  became  lost  to 
sight  for  an  hour,  but  returned  with  his  camera  filled 
with  plates  of  exquisite  beauty,  the  gem  being  the 
Church  of  St.  Sacrement  with  its  gray  stone  walls, 
covered  with  ivy  of  most  luxuriant  growth. 


34°  Church  of  St.  Sacrement 

Near  Bolton  Landing,  this  church  stands  on  a  rocky 
eminence.  On  two  sides  it  is  protected  by  a  low  stone 
wall,  winding  around  and  creeping  up  to  the  level 
of  the  churchyard.  Low  broad  steps  of  primeval 
rock  make  it  easy  to  mount  the  acclivity  of  this  rocky 
promontory.  In  front  of  the  church  and  a  little  to 
the  north  is  a  timbered  campanile  somewhat  re- 
sembling an  hour-glass  in  form,  within  which  a  bell 
is  hung  in  an  open  cupola,  to  sound  the  angelus  to 
the  faithful.  It  is  said  that  to  Samuel  de  Champlain 
belongs  the  honor  of  introducing  the  angelus  in 
America. 

On  our  return  to  Lake  George,  over  the  macadam 
of  the  Bolton  road  at  a  speed  of  forty  miles  an  hour, 
it  seemed  that  we  were  breasting  a  great  wind,  but 
the  Professor  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
leaves  of  the  trees  were  motionless,  and  that  we  were 
the  tornado,  instead  of  the  gentle  zephyr  we  were 
cleaving  in  our  mad  flight.  On  the  side  of  the  road, 
midway  betweenBolton  and  Lake  George,  we  passed  a 
roof-dismantled  log  hut  of  the  most  primeval  construc- 
tion. It  was  one  story  high  with  one  door  and  window 
in  front,  evidently  the  rude  home  of  an  early  settler. 

Back  to  Lake  George,  we  wandered  up  a  side 
street  under  the  shadow  of  Prospect  Mountain  with 
its  dismantled  cable  railway  and  the  sombre  green 
of  its  forest  growths. 

The  sun  had  declined  behind  the  mountain,  bath- 
ing the  little  Church  of  St.  James  in  its  shadow,  which 
seemed  almost  a  replica  of  the  Church  of  St.  Sacre- 


a 

s 


a 
"o 


o 


o 

p4 


Mohican  House  341 

ment  at  Bolton  Landing.  Both  churches  were  closed 
and  nobody  was  near  that  could  give  us  any  informa- 
tion, but  later  through  the  kindness  of  the  Treasurer 
of  St.  Sacrement,  Mr.  F.  W.  Allen,  I  learned  that 
the  Church  of  St.  Sacrement  was  built  in  1868,  largely 
through  the  efforts  of  Miss  Henrietta  Thierot — now 
]Mrs.  Charles  H.  Meade;  that  the  corner-stone  was 
laid  in  1867;  that  the  first  clergyman  in  charge  was 
Rev.  W.  F.  Lewis ;  and  that  the  present  rector  is  Rev. 
Dwight  R.  Parce,  the  senior  warden,  being  John  B. 
Simpson,  New  York  City. 

The  Church  of  St.  James  at  Lake  George  seems  to 
have  been  erected  in  1856,  destroyed  by  a  tornado 
May  13,  1866,  and  re-erected  in  1868.  The  first 
rector  was  Rev.  R.  F.  Crary. 

At  present,  George  W.  Bates  is  senior  warden; 
George  T.  Peabody,  junior  warden;  R.  E.  Archibald, 
treasurer  and  clerk. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  houses  at  Bolton  was 
the  Mohican  House,  whose  name,  perhaps,  was  origi- 
nally given  to  it  by  some  admirer  of  Cooper's  Leather- 
stocking  Tales.  It  is  said  to  have  been  the  oldest 
hostelry  on  the  lake.  In  1880  S.  R.  Stoddard  wrote 
as  follows: 

"  The  name  was  given  to  the  house  a  long  time 
ago.  On  the  flag-staff  that  used  to  stand  out  toward 
the  dock  was  erected  a  wicked-looking  warrior,  won- 
derfully made,  who,  with  tomahawk  in  hand,  per- 
petually on  the  war-path,  stood,  through  summer's 


342  Huletts  Landing 

sun  and  winter's  storm,  keeping  grim  vigil  over  the 
surrounding  country. 

"  A  part  of  the  frame  of  the  present  hotel  was 
erected  away  back  before  the  beginning  of  the  pres- 
ent century,  and  is  said  to  be  the  oldest  one  standing 
in  the  country.  It  is  also  said  that  on  the  point  where 
the  dock  now  stands  was  once  a  building,  destroyed 
in  1800,  which  had  been  used  by  a  band  of  smugglers, 
as  an  entrepot  for  contraband  goods  brought  through 
from  Canada." 

From  Mr.  E.  G.  Penfield,  I  have  obtained  further 
information  in  regard  to  the  INIohican  House.  About 
the  beginning  of  the  tw^entieth  century  the  old  house 
w^as  purchased  by  W.  K.  Bixby.  The  old  building 
was  subsequently  torn  down  and  a  handsome  Colonial 
residence  built  on  its  site.  The  grounds  around  the 
residence  are  spacious  and  have  been  improved  so  that 
it  is  now  one  of  the  most  attractive  places  on  the  lake. 

I  am  indebted  also  to  Mr.  Penfield  for  a  photograph 
of  the  old  building  taken  in  1898,  its  last  year  as  a 
hotel. 

Huletts  Landing,  although  I  do  not  know  much 
about  it,  appeals  to  me  from  the  fact  that  the  little 
flat  land  extending  east  into  the  gorge  between  Black 
Mountain  and  Spruce  Mountain  soon  dies  away  in 
a  narrow  road,  which  reaches  to  an  elevation  of  eleven 
hundred  feet  within  two  miles,  and  after  a  winding 
road  of  perhaps  six  miles,  passes  through  the  little 
post  town  of  Dresden,  and  finally  reaches  the  level 
of  Lake  Champlain  at  Chubb's  dock. 

The  architecture  at  Huletts  is  quite  unique,  and 


The  Mountains  343 

its  method  of  advertising  is  attractive  to  hunters  and 
fishers.  It  says :  "Amusements  are,  hunting  and  fish- 
ing with  dancing."  I  am  not  sure  whether  the  danc- 
ing goes  with  the  fishing  or  M'ith  the  hunting,  but  it  is 
surely  an  attractive  adjunct  to  either  sport.  I  as- 
sume that  partners  are  furnished,  either  with  rod  or 
gun.  Near  Huletts  Landing,  as  we  go  north,  we 
seem  to  have  emerged  from  the  manj^  beautiful 
islands,  small  and  large,  that  have  beset  our  pathless 
path  for  many  miles. 

We  passed  Tongue  JNIountain  on  the  west,  and 
have  rounded  Shelving  Rock  whose  hotel  and  en- 
vironment tempt  the  tourist  to  add  it  to  his  itinerary. 
The  great  bulks  of  Buck  IMountain,  Elephant  and 
Sugarloaf  Peak,  and  even  Black  Mountain,  which 
have  obsessed  us  for  hours,  are  fading  away  to  the 
south  in  the  haze  of  an  August  day.  At  Sabbath- 
day  Point  the  lake  shores  draw  near,  with  the  high- 
lands on  the  east  still  frowning  on  us,  while  on  the 
west,  they  seem  to  have  retreated,  leaving  a  wide  space 
of  low,  rolling  land  with  meadows  and  fields  of  grain, 
and  space  for  the  small  settlement  at  this  historic 
spot.  As  one  steams  along  north  he  sees  spots  which 
attract  attention,  more  for  the  quiet  beauty  of  the  sur- 
roundings than  the  grandeur  of  its  buildings,  such 
as  Silver  Bay.  Again  the  lake  widens  until,  near 
Hague,  it  is  two  miles  wide.  Here,  also,  the  moun- 
tains have  drawn  away  on  the  west  side  of  the  lake, 
leaving  the  space  for  the  village  of  Hague,  on  the 
low  land  near  the  shore,  while  extending  back  for 
three  or  four  miles  are  hills  and  rolling  land  of  slight 


344  Anthony's  Nose 

elevations,  until  about  five  miles  away  Beach  Moun- 
tain resumes  the  sway  of  high  altitude,  with  an 
elevation  of  two  thousand  feet. 

As  the  steamer  with  the  swish,  swish  of  its  engine, 
approaches  Friendly  Point  the  huge  bulk  of  An- 
thony's Nose  looms  up  in  its  precipitous  height, 
a  mile  away,  seemingly  barring  the  way  to  the 
north. 

As  we  round  the  point  we  are  reminded  of  S.  R. 
Stoddard's  story  of  the  wreck  of  the  John  Jay  in 
1856  (written  nearly  thirty  years  ago) .  A  fire  broke 
out  in  the  engine-room  of  the  vessel.  Blinded  by  the 
smoke,  the  pilot,  in  attempting  to  beach  the  steamer, 
ran  on  a  rock;  the  vessel  rebounding  slid  back  into 
deep  water  and  burned  to  the  water's  edge.  Old 
Dick,  a  walking  "  moving  picture  show,"  was  on  board 
carrying  an  oblong  green  box  with  hinged  cover,  un- 
der which  was  a  glass.  The  box  was  supported  by 
a  leather  strap  slung  over  his  shoulder. 

Half  a  century  ago  these  intinerant  showmen  were 
frequently  seen  in  small  villages  and  on  roads  in  the 
rural  district.  Old  Dick's  particular  line  was  "  rattell 
snaicks."  When  the  boat  struck  the  rock,  the  box 
of  snakes  slid  into  the  lake.  In  some  manner  the 
cover  had  become  loose  or  perhaps  the  glass  had 
broken,  but  from  one  end  of  the  box  the  snakes'  heads 
were  seen  weaving  to  and  fro,  while  at  the  other  end 
a  little  girl  clung  for  her  life.  The  horror  of  the 
child  as  the  heads  of  her  fellow-voyagers  swayed 
back  and  forth  in  their  precarious  vessel  may  be 
imagined.     The  box  was  washed  ashore,  the  snakes 


Indian  Kettles  345 

quickly  made  for  the  jungle,  and  the  child  was 
rescued. 

Beyond  this  point,  to  the  west,  is  a  place  called 
Indian  Kettles,  from  some  curious  rock  formation 
along  the  shore,  depressions  probably  made  by  the 
action  of  water  in  ages  past.  Having  the  appear- 
ance of  metates  or  mortars  used  by  the  Aborigines 
in  pounding  their  corn  or  preparing  meal  for  their 
primitive  food,  it  is  probable  that  some  of  these  de- 
pressions or  holes  may  have  been  used  by  Indians 
for  that  purpose,  but  as  there  is  no  evidence  of  a 
permanent  village  in  this  vicinity,  it  is  not  likely  that 
these  "  pot  holes  "  were  made  by  them. 

East  of  Indian  Kettles,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
lake  is  Blair's  Bay,  while  north,  three  miles  away, 
looms  up  the  rounded  height  of  Rogers  Bock. 

It  may  be  that  climatic  or  atmospheric  conditions 
had  made  the  water  more  green,  the  sky  more  blue,  the 
sunlight  more  golden,  but  true  it  is,  that  previous  to 
the  period  of  which  I  am  writing,  I  had  never  seen 
so  many  of  nature's  elements  conspire  to  beautify 
the  landscape,  as  on  this  August  morning  when  last 
I  steamed  up  Lake  George.  Nor  have  I  seen  a  spot 
on  the  lake  more  grand  or  picturesque. 

The  widening  of  the  lake,  by  the  indentation  of 
Blair's  Bay,  brought  out  the  contour  of  Anthony's 
Nose,  while  the  vista  of  the  narrowing  waters  beyond 
revealed  the  highlands  at  the  north,  as  I  had  never 
observed  them  before.  The  lowlands  east  and  west 
accentuated  the  height  of  the  Nose  and  Rogers 
Rock,  and  the  Mount  Defiance  range,  springing  from 


346  Highlands  at  the  Outlet 

Anthony's  Nose,  seemed  to  have  taken  on  new  beauty 
of  slope,  of  curve,  of  peak. 

The  bare  rock  forming  the  face  of  Anthony's 
Nose,  denoting  inaccessibility,  suggests  the  idea  of 
a  medieval  fortress  of  the  Old  ]Man  of  the  Moun- 
tains, whose  profile  is  not  visible  from  the  deck  of 
the  steamer.  It  is  said  the  greatest  depth  of  water 
on  the  lake,  perhaps  eighty  fathoms,  is  found  under 
its  shadow. 

As  we  approach  Rogers  Rock  Hotel,  the  high- 
lands vanish  and  the  valley  of  the  outlet  of  the  lake 
is  guarded  only  by  Cooks  INIountain,  on  the  west,  and 
the  gradually  diminishing  slope  of  INIount  Defiance, 
on  the  east,  as  it  fades  away  and  ends  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Champlain. 

At  the  landing  at  Baldwin  one  is  beset  with  a  feel- 
ing of  loneliness,  although  it  is  far  from  being  a 
lonely  place.  For  a  short  time  each  day,  however, 
this  place  is  all  action.  The  Sagamore  is  in  sight  up 
the  lake;  the  rumble  of  the  incoming  train  is  heard; 
the  steamer  approaches  with  a  wide  detour  and 
makes  the  landing,  and  the  gangplank  connects  you 
with  the  shore. 

The  train  arrives,  and  soon  two  streams  of  pas- 
sengers are  hurrying  along  the  dock,  from  train  to 
steamer  and  from  steamer  to  train,  in  needless  haste, 
forgetting  that  the  transportation  company  is  as 
anxious  for  their  patronage  as  they  are  for  their 
transportation.  For  a  space  of  fifteen  minutes  there 
is  almost  as  much  action  as  in  the  unloading  of  a 
Hudson    River    steamer.     The    steamer    sounds    its 


Rogers  Rock  347 

whistle  and  slowlj'-  pulls  away  from  the  dock;  the 
long  train  of  cars  steams  away,  and  this  little  pocket 
of  the  mountains  is  left  "  to  silence  and  to  me." 

JNIemories  throng  upon  me.  I  am  standing  on  his- 
toric ground.  This  narrow  channel  has  been  crowded 
with  troops  in  battle  array.  The  Aborigines,  naked 
and  fiercely  cruel;  the  flower  of  the  French  army, 
under  Tracey;  British  troops,  scouts,  and  rangers, 
Continental  soldiers,  and  backwoodsmen  have  been 
massed  on  these  waters  or  along  the  narrow  trail. 

A  few  miles  to  the  north  is  Ticonderoga  with  its 
gruesome  memories,  while  to  the  south  is  Rogers 
Slide,  Rogers  Rock,  and  Rogers  Rock  Hotel. 
We  recall  the  disastrous  battle  on  the  mountain,  we 
hear  the  war-cry  of  the  Indians  and  look  eagerly  at 
the  bare  rock  expecting  to  see  the  accoutrements  of 
Captain  Rogers  sliding  swiftly  down  its  surface;  but 
we  remember,  suddenly,  that  there  is  no  ice  on  the  lake, 
no  snow  for  the  tracks  of  the  snow-shoes,  and  we 
awake  to  the  beauties  of  the  park-like  environment 
of  this  vicinity,  the  central  object  being  Rogers  Rock 
Hotel. 

Although  this  spot  has  been  occupied  many  years 
by  a  hotel  bearing  this  name,  we  are  told  that  this 
property  was  bought  by  Mr.  David  Williams  of  New 
York  in  1903,  and  that  he  made  subsequent  purchases 
until  now  the  Rogers  Rock  property  includes  two 
mountains  from  "  lake  to  summit."  Extensive  drives 
and  paths,  and  judicious  landscape  gardening,  with 
flower  gardens  and  v/ell-kept  lau-ns,  have  trans- 
formed this  spot  into  a  park  of  picturesque  beauty. 


3+8  Rogers  Rock 

while  its  environment  for  miles  east,  west,  and  south, 
is  grandly  majestic,  in  its  vista  of  scenic  sublimity.  In 
fact,  one  feels  as  though  any  evidence  of  the  handiwork 
of  man  would  mar  its  primitive  grandeur,  unless  it 
might  be  a  birchen  canoe. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 


CHAMPLAIN  CANAL 


T  AKE  CHAMPLAIN  has  been  variously  called 
^  Corlear  Lake,  Lake  Hiracois  (1666),  Lake 
Iroquois   (Algonquin)    1609. 

The  word  Iroquois  is  thought  to  be  of  Algonquin 
origin,  from  the  fact  that  the  suffix  quois  is  or  was 
applied  to  the  Algonquin  tribes  of  Xew  France 
(Canada)  and  has  the  same  meaning,  "  people  of,"  as 
the  suffix  ronon  or  rlionon  annexed  to  the  names  of 
the  different  tribes  of  the  Five  Nations,  in  the  Huron- 
Iroquois  language. 

Thus  Abenaquois  means  the  "  People  of  the  Tribe 
of  the  Abenakis";  Agnierrhonons  (Mohawks),  the 
"  People  of  the  Flint  " ;  Iroquois,  the  "  People  of 
the  Long  House,"  or  Ho-de-no-sau-ne. 

Up  to  this  point  I  have  dwelt  upon  the  warlike  his- 
tory of  this  lake,  the  moving  of  large  bodies  of  trained 
troops,  the  scouting  parties  of  intrepid  rangers,  the 
stealthily  murderous  raids  of  dusky  warriors.  I 
have  also  given  an  account  of  the  courageous  pioneer 
husbandmen  establishing  peaceful  homes.  But  there 
is  an  important  commercial  history  connected  with 
this  body  of  water,  which  cannot  be  ignored. 

The  discovery  of  the  upper  waterway  of  the  St. 

349 


350  Iroquois 

Lawrence  River  and  the  river  Sorel  (Richelieu),  in 
1609,  by  Samuel  de  Champlain,  and  the  almost  simul- 
taneous discovery  of  the  Hudson  River  by  Henry 
Hudson,  representatives  of  two  different  nations,  led 
to  important  results  in  North  America.  The  Algon- 
quin tribes  of  the  St.  Lawrence  eagerly  sought  an 
alliance  with  the  French;  and  the  Iroquois  of  the 
Mohawk  Valley  with  the  Dutch  in  order  to  obtain 
firearms,  with  which  to  revenge  themselves  for  their 
humiliating  defeat  on  the  lake  of  the  Iroquois. 

The  Mohawks  were  of  course  familiar  with  the 
■watercourses  leading  to  their  northern  enemies,  and 
through  this  tribe,  the  Dutch  early  became  cognizant  of 
the  importance  of  water  communications  between  the 
Hudson  and  the  St.  Lawrence  by  way  of  the  lake  of 
the  Iroquois  and  the  river  of  the  Iroquois.  Settlements 
were  established  along  the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk 
by  the  Dutch,  and  the  natural  watercourses  between 
the  colonies  of  France  and  the  Dutch  early  became 
the  route  of  intercourse  in  time  of  peace,  and  the 
war-path  of  the  colonists  and  their  Indian  allies  in 
time  of  war;  the  IMohawk  River,  connecting  with 
Lake  Ontario  and  the  Great  Lakes,  and  the  Hudson 
and  Lake  Champlain,  with  the  river  St.  Lawrence. 

For  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  the  Mohawk 
River  had  been  used  as  a  barge  canal  in  its  pri- 
mitive state  when,  in  1791-1795,  the  Inland  Lock  and 
Navigation  Company  made  surveys  for  the  canaliza- 
tion of  this  river,  which  led  to  some  improvement  of 
its  channel,  and  the  building  of  locks  at  Little  Falls 
and  Fort  Stanwix.     This  attempt  suggested  artificial 


a; 
be 


'A 


Inland  Lock  and  Navigation  Co.        351 

waterways,  and  finally  in  1816-17  to  the  beginning  of 
the  Champlain  and  the  Erie  canals. 

Upon  the  conquest  of  Canada  in  1760  by  the  Eng- 
lish Government,  the  Champlain  and  Hudson  valleys 
became  more  fully  developed  than  the  Mohawk  Valley, 
the  western  part  of  which  remained  in  a  wild  state 
for  a  number  of  decades. 

The  arguments  in  favor  of  the  construction  of  the 
Champlain  Canal  were  many  and  various.  It  was 
truly  said  that  with  lumber,  mines,  water-power, 
agriculture  and  grazing  lands,  and  other  sources  of 
wealth,  it  was  bountifully  provided.  It  was  further 
said  that  "  within  that  tract,  embracing  the  borders 
of  Lake  George,  and  the  timber  lands  north  and  west 
of  the  great  falls  of  Luzerne,  there  were  annually 
made  millions  of  feet  of  boards,  planks,  and  square 
timber,  consisting  of  oak,  white  and  yellow  pine,  be- 
side dock  logs,  scantling  and  other  timber  to  a  great 
amount.  The  territory  bordering  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain abounded  in  wood,  timber,  masts,  spars,  and 
lumber  of  all  kinds."  In  the  northern  part  of  the 
State  was  found  iron  in  almost  inexhaustible  quantities 
and  of  excellent  quality,  left  unworked  in  the  mines; 
also  fine  marble  in  Vermont  which  lay  useless  in  the 
quarry. 

The  advantages  to  the  State  were  summed  up  by 
the  commissioners  as  follows: 

"  In  short  the  connection  of  Lake  Champlain  with 
the  Hudson,  by  means  of  the  proposed  Champlain 
canal,  would  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  northern 
lands;  it  would  save  great  sums  in  transportation; 


352  Champlain  Canal 

it  would  open  new  and  increasing  sources  of  wealth; 
it  would  divert  from  the  province  of  lower  Canada 
and  turn  to  the  south  the  profits  of  the  trade  of  Lake 
Champlain,  and  impart  activity  and  enterprise  to 
agricultural,  commercial,  and  mechanical  pursuits,  and 
add  to  our  industries  and  resources." 

In  a  great  measure,  most  of  these  hopes  were 
realized.  Burlington,  Vermont,  became  the  second 
largest  lumber  district  in  the  United  States,  Albany- 
being  the  foremost.  In  the  one  article  of  woollen  cloth 
of  domestic  manufacture,  there  were  made  in  Wash- 
ington County  in  1823,  331,258  yards  and  there  were 
41  grist-mills  and  130  saw-mills.  Saratoga  County 
produced  171,789  yards  of  domestic  woollens,  while 
New  York  County  is  credited  with  only  2540  yards. 

The  era  after  the  War  of  1812-14  seems  to  have 
been  one  of  great  activity  in  the  Champlain  Valley, 
and  in  1823  we  find  steam  navigation  introduced  on 
the  lake  and  all  industries  stimulated  by  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Champlain  Canal,  which  turned  the 
tide  of  transportation  from  the  north  to  the  south. 

The  table  of  tolls  received  from  this  canal  shows 
a  comparatively  steady  increase  from  1823,  when  the 
receipts  from  tolls  were  $26,000.  The  receipts  for 
tolls  reached  the  maximum  during  the  years  1866- 
67-68  when  the  amount  was  nearly  $200,000.  From 
that  date  there  was  a  steady  decrease,  the  year  1882 
showing  receipts  for  tolls  only  $37,819.  The  con- 
struction of  railroads,  however,  though  it  diverted 
freight  from  the  canal,  increased  the  average  amount 
of  trade  throughout  the  whole  valley. 


-    o 

5  C 


CJO 

o 


CHAPTER  XXX 

POINTE   DE   LA    CHEVELTJRE 

(Crown  Point) 

IVillD-DAY,  July  27,  1909,  found  us  en  route  to 
-^  '  ^  the  wharf  of  the  steamer  Vermont,  on  Lake 
Champlain.  Without  a  maj),  the  environment  of  the 
village  of  Ticonderoga  puzzles  one,  and  renders  it 
difficult  to  find  the  points  of  the  compass,  north,  south, 
east,  and  west  seeming  to  change  places  in  a  bewilder- 
ing way. 

We  were  told  that  our  train  was  ready,  and  to  get 
aboard.  As  we  mounted  the  steps  we  became  aware 
that  the  locomotive  was  pointed  towards  Lake  George 
instead  of  Lake  Champlain.  We  got  off  and  put- 
ting a  question  to  a  railroad  official,  received  the  usual 
ambiguous  reply;  but  it  seemed  an  abstruse  problem 
until  all  at  once  our  three  minds  working  together 
comprehended  the  obvious  solution — our  train  was  to 
back  down  to  the  lake. 

Our  trip  down  the  lake  was  one  of  unalloyed  pleas- 
ure. We  noticed  a  restored  portion  of  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga on  the  hill  and  the  Pell  Mansion  on  the  shore. 
Also  the  ferry  of  the  D.  &  H.  R.  R.  near  Larrabee's 
Point,  and  its  ponderous  pontoon  draw,  which,  when 

'3  353 


354  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure 

closed,  allows  trains  to  cross  the  lake  into  Vermont. 
Also  the  bluff  of  JNIount  Independence  opposite  the 
steamer  dock. 

But  our  greatest  interest  and  the  supreme  object 
of  our  journey  was  the  Peninsula  of  Crown  Point, 
which  is  two  miles  long  and  one  mile  wide  separated 
from  the  western  mainland  at  Port  Henry  by  Bul- 
wagga  Bay,  a  body  of  water  of  practically  the  same 
dimensions  as  Crown  Point,  or  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure, 
as  it  was  named  by  the  French.  Its  history  is  re- 
corded (q.  V.)  and  will  not  be  told  now.  Its  queer 
name,*  Bulwagga,  is  said  to  have  been  of  Indian 
origin,  meaning  false  lake,  and  to  early  carto- 
graphers the  narrow  elongation  of  Lake  Champlain 
was  called  Wood  Creek,  the  extreme  southern  part 
being  called  "  the  Great  '  Marias.'  " 

Necessarily  the  lake  turns  to  the  west  from  Wood 
Creek  at  the  northern  end  of  the  Point,  being  sepa- 
rated from  Vermont  by  about  one  eighth  of  a  mile  at 
a  place  called  Chimney  Point.  A  strange  craft  com- 
ing up  the  lake  from  Richelieu  River  would  naturally 
continue  on  up  Bulwagga  Bay,  instead  of  turning 
to  the  east  and  passing  the  narrows  between  Chimney 
Point  and  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  (Crown  Point). 

Naturally,  too,  this  would  be  a  place  of  landing 
of  a  fleet  of  canoes  paddling  leisurely  up  the  lake. 
Hence  a  probable  landing  place  of  Champlain  and 
the  Montagnes,  also  a  point  where  hostile  canoes 
might  approach  each  other  suddenly,  if  going  in  an 
opposite  direction. 

But  our  principal  object  was  to  explore  Pointe  de  la 


X 


— "    c 

•  —     o 


Bulwagga  Bay  355 

Chevelure  and  examine  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  St.  Fred- 
eric of  the  French  (1731)  and  the  later  fortification 
of  Fort  Amherst,  erected  by  the  English  in  1759, 
during  the  French  and  English  wars. 

On  a  point  of  this  land  jutting  out  from  the  north- 
east shore  stands  a  lighthouse,  with  a  small  dock  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  have  charge  of  the  light.  As 
we  approached  the  shore  it  was  evident  that  the 
steamer  was  going  to  make  a  landing  for  the  accom- 
modation of  a  small  party  that  was  waiting  on  the 
wharf.  Instantly  I  comprehended  that  if  I  could 
get  off  the  boat  at  this  dock,  I  would  have  an  hour 
more  for  our  examination  of  the  forts  than  if  I  landed 
at  Port  Henry,  and  came  back  by  the  ferry.  But 
for  some  reason,  which  at  the  time  seemed  insane,  the 
captain  roughly  prevented  mj^^  landing  by  pulling  in 
the  gangplank,  at  the  same  time  pressing  me  back- 
ward into  the  arms  of  a  stout  gentleman,  who  proved 
to  be  a  clergyman  of  my  acquaintance  living  at 
Westport. 

After  some  conversation  with  him,  I  concluded,  that 
when  our  examination  was  over  we  would  go  down 
to  Westport  for  the  night,  unless  I  could  get  accom- 
modations for  our  party  at  Hotel  St.  Frederic  at 
Chimney  Point,  which  seemed  doubtful,  because  we 
were  told  that  the  proprietor  would  not  take  any 
transients. 

We  made  the  attempt,  however,  and  found  Mr. 
M.  F.  Barnes  willing  to  take  care  of  us  for  the  night. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  short  stay  at  this  hotel,  nor 
its  proprietor,  who  proved  to  be  interested   in  the 


356  The  Mountain  Monarchs 

same  kind  of  research  that  we  were  engaged  in,  and 
w  ho  gave  us  a  day  of  his  genial  companionship  and  a 
vast  store  of  information  which  I  could  not  have  ob- 
tained from  any  other  source.  It  seems  as  though 
the  roughness  of  the  captain  was  fateful,  for  if  he 
had  allowed  us  to  go  ashore  at  the  light,  we  would 
never  have  met  Mr.  Barnes  and  our  journey  would, 
in  a  way,  have  been  a  failure. 

From  Hotel  St.  Frederic  the  grandest  panorama 
of  the  whole  lake  is  spread  before  you.  In  the  fore- 
ground is  Port  Henry,  with  a  background  of  hills  and 
mountains  comprising  all  of  the  grandest  peaks  of 
the  Adirondack  ranges.  To  the  south  the  hills  fall 
away  to  the  heights  of  Ticonderoga  and  its  vicinity, 
while  to  the  north,  forty  miles  away,  near  Au  Sable 
River,  the  high  grounds  along  the  lake  gradually 
sink  away,  ending  at  last  in  the  peak  of  Trembleau 
Mountain,  near  Corlear  Bay. 

Extending  to  the  west,  range  after  range,  peak 
after  peak,  the  monarchs  of  the  north  may  be  seen  so 
far  away  that  their  dim  outlines  seem  but  summer 
clouds  on  the  horizon.  Mounts  Marcy,  Dix,  White- 
face,  Boreas,  Hoffman,  and  a  host  of  minor  peaks 
and  ranges,  all  begin  and  die  away  within  the  line  of 
vision  from  Chimney  Point.  In  the  extreme  north, 
on  the  Vermont  shore,  the  outlines  of  the  Green 
Mountains  may  be  plainly  traced.  With  the  setting 
sun  gilding  the  peaks  of  Marcy  and  Dix,  the  sombre 
green  of  the  nearer  slopes,  the  shimmer  of  the  water, 
made  golden  in  the  dying  day,  and  the  misty  heights 
of  the  mountains  in  the  Lake  George  region,  we  have 


a; 

be 

o 
a> 

O 

a> 

M 

eS 

O 

'o 


< 

CD 


Hotel  St.  Frederic  357 

a  picture  which  no  vocabulary  can  describe  or  brush 
portray. 

At  our  feet  and  across  a  narrow  strait  at  Chimney 
Point,  and  only  two  hundred  yards  away,  is  the  flat 
land  of  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure,  broken  by  embank- 
ments of  two  old  fortresses,  from  whose  ramparts 
and  bastions,  tall  pines  and  other  evergreen  trees  of 
stunted  growth  have  sprung,  while  over  all,  the 
broken  clouds  of  a  gorgeous  sunset  cast  moving 
shadows  on  mountain  and  plain. 

On  the  first  evening  we  passed  at  Hotel  St.  Fred- 
eric, w^e  were  shown  a  relic  of  great  interest,  namely, 
the  resurrected  one  third  of  General  Arnold's  flag- 
ship, the  Congress,  which  played  such  a  notable  part 
in  the  naval  battle  of  October  13,  1776.  You  will 
remember  how  Arnold  with  his  little  fleet  crippled, 
fled  down  the  lake  from  the  vicinity  of  Crown  Point, 
about  ten  miles,  to  a  little  bay  nearly  opposite  West- 
port,  and  there  burned  his  vessels.  The  place  is  now 
known  as  Arnold  Bay. 

All  that  is  left  of  the  Congress  rests  on  the  lawn 
back  of  Hotel  St.  Frederic  at  Chimney  Point.  The 
building  itself  is  very  interesting  on  account  of  its 
antiquity,  the  older  part  being  the  old  Captain 
Hendee  House  of  the  Revolution.  Many  quaint  bits 
of  furniture  are  still  seen  in  its  rooms.  The  present 
oflice  was  formerly  the  tap-room  of  the  old  hotel,  said 
to  have  been  the  room  where  Ethan  Allen  and  Seth 
Warner  met  some  British  officers. 

Four  trips  to  the  point  were  made,  two  of  them  by 
rowboats,    and    many    photographs    secured    of    the 


358  Fort  St.  Frederic 

interesting  ruins.  A  photograph  was  secured  of  the 
northwest  bastion  of  Fort  St.  Frederic  with  the  north 
curtain  of  masonry,  and  another  of  a  stone  bearing 
an  almost  undecipherable  inscription  in  French. 

The  northwest  bastion  overlooking  the  lake  is  very 
interesting,  and  the  ruins  of  the  old  citadel  which 
was  destroyed  is  seen  in  the  mass  of  stone  of  which 
it,  and  the  bomb-proof,  was  composed.  A  few  feet 
back  of  this  bastion,  the  remains  of  the  covered  way, 
a  sally-port  to  the  lake,  near  the  old  Amherst  dock, 
is  easily  traced.  The  entrance  from  the  lake  is 
marked  by  a  passageway  about  ten  feet  wide  and 
ten  feet  high,  plainly  discernible  its  whole  length, 
cut  out  of  the  solid  rock. 

From  the  Amherst  dock,  no  longer  available,  may 
be  traced  one  of  Amherst's  well-built  roads  inter- 
sected by  a  second  road  that  leads  to  the  main  gate- 
way of  Fort  Amherst. 

Fort  St.  Frederic  was  about  three  hundred  feet 
square  with  four  bastions,  three  of  the  usual  diamond 
shape,  while  the  fourth  or  northwest  was  a  quadrangle 
and  larger  than  the  others,  as  it  contained  the  three- 
story  stone  citadel  and  probably  comprised  all  of  the 
early  fortification  of  1731,  which  was  enlarged  about 
1746  and  blown  up  July  31,  1759,  by  firing  its 
magazine. 

The  ramparts  seem  to  be  in  a  fair  state  of  preser- 
vation, but  the  curtains,  which  are  faoed  with  stone 
walls  about  twelve  feet  high  and  three  feet  thick,  have 
fallen  or  have  been  torn  down  by  natives  who  desired 
building  stone.     In  fact,  a  large  stone  dwelling  on  the 


x 


Fort  Amherst  359 

Vermont  shore  was  pointed  out  to  our  party  as  having 
been  built  entirely  of  stone  taken  from  Fort  St. 
Frederic. 

Fort  Amherst's  ramparts  and  bastions  and  moat 
are  certainly  in  an  excellent  condition,  considering 
that  the  fort  has  existed  a  century  and  a  half.  In 
fact,  it  is  said  that  the  fort  is  the  best  preserved  of 
any  old  fortress  in  the  United  States,  except,  perhaps, 
that  of  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  which  is  well  pre- 
served on  account  of  constant  care,  since  it  was  built 
by  Menendez  in  1565.  It  was  formerly  called  Fort 
San  Marco,  but  is  now  known  as  Fort  Marion. 

Although  Great  Britain  expended  ten  million  dol- 
lars on  Amherst  and  Ticonderoga,  the  engineer  cer- 
tainly made  a  substantial  work  of  Fort  Amlierst.  It 
is  true  that  the  four  rows  of  barracks  are  in  a  bad 
state,  one  having  entirely  disappeared  and  another 
being  marked  by  a  single  wall  for  each  building. 
Two,  however,  could  be  restored  without  very  great 
expense.  The  main  gateway  is  in  the  north  curtain 
between  the  northeast  and  northwest  bastion.  Inside 
of  the  north  bastion  is  a  large  well  ninety  feet  deep, 
which  supplied  the  fort  with  water.  It  is  now  well 
protected  by  a  fence  inside  of  which  dense  shrubbery 
hides  it  from  view. 

From  this  bastion  a  sally-port  or  stone-covered 
way  led  to  the  lake  a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  and  is 
still  plainly  visible  as  it  crosses  the  moat;  also  the 
lines  of  the  former  ditch  as  it  crosses  the  flat,  even 
to  the  edge  of  the  lake.  The  remains  of  habitations 
are  marked  here  and  there  outside  of  the  walls  of  the 


360  Fort  Amherst 

forts,  by  openings  or  cellars  into  which  stone  walls 
have  tumbled.  These  holes  are  scattered  all  along 
the  shore  of  the  lake  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  St. 
Frederic. 

Although  the  land  on  which  Fort  Amherst  stands 
belongs  to  Mr.  J.  E.  Nadeau,  a  private  gentleman, 
and  a  farmer  on  the  Point,  he  keeps  the  American 
flag  floating  from  a  well-appointed  staff  day  and 
night. 

To  the  right  of  Fort  Amherst  is  the  Crown  Point 
light.  Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  valley  and 
coincident  with  the  French  villages  on  each  Point, 
there  was  a  wind-mill  for  grinding  corn,  which  stood 
where  the  lighthouse  now  stands. 

On  the  grounds  of  Hotel  St.  Frederic  is  seen  an 
old  millstone,  denoting  the  existence  of  a  wind  grist- 
mill before  the  abandonment  of  the  villages  at  Crown 
Point  and  Chimney  Point  by  the  early  French  set- 
tlers. The  name  Chimney  Point  was  suggested  by 
the  chimneys  of  the  abandoned  and  decaying  houses 
of  the  early  settlements. 

One  very  interesting  part  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  Am- 
herst is  the  moat  that  surrounds  the  ramparts.  In 
some  places  it  is  about  twenty  feet  wide  and  deep, 
cut  or  quarried  out  of  solid  limestone.  All  or 
nearly  all  of  the  stone  taken  out  was  used  in  the 
fort. 

It  is  no  wonder  that  in  many  places  the  flat  land 
shows  a  rocky  surface,  rounded  and  striated  bj''  gla- 
cial action,  when  we  reflect  on  the  fact  that  the  earth 
had  been  stripped  off  of  this  rocky  point,  to  form 


"  Uiuldle  Bay"  at  Evenlidc.  I'.oltoii,  X.  Y. 


The  Moat  361 

the  immense  earthworks  of  which  the  two  forts  are 
composed. 

Fort  Amherst  is  one-half  mile  in  circumference 
with  embankment  twenty-five  feet  high  and  twenty- 
five  feet  wide  at  its  base.  It  is  covered  with  grass 
of  a  dull  green,  whose  roots  are  woven  and  interwoven 
in  a  manner  that  seems  indestructible,  and  shows  no 
signs,  except  along  the  crest  of  the  ramj)arts,  of  the 
footsteps  of  the  myriad  of  visitors  who  thronged  its 
walls  during  the  Tercentenary. 

The  firm  of  Wetherbe,  Sherman  &  Company,  of  Port  Henry, 
New  York,  in  a  communication  to  the  Governor,  Charles  E. 
Hughes,  dated  March  25,  1910,  has  made  a  gift  to  the  State  of 
New  York  of  twenty-five  acres  of  land,  situated  on  the  Peninsula 
of  Crown  Point,  or  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure  as  it  was  named  by  the 
French,  for  the  purpose  of  a  State  Park. 

This  gift  is  made  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  and  protecting 
the  ruins  of  Fort  St.  Frederic  and  Fort  Amherst,  the  most  in- 
teresting and  historic  of  any  of  the  very  few  relics  of  the  early 
Colonial  wars  between  England  and  France,  and  the  war  of 
Revolution. 

It  is  truly  said  that  the  ruins  of  Fort  Amherst  are  the  best 
preserved  of  any  old  fortress  in  the  United  States.  Fort  St. 
Frederic  and  its  history  are  also  intensely  interesting,  with  the 
debris  of  its  ruined  citadel  and  the  quaint  and  undecipherable 
inscription  on  its  crumbling  walls  bearing  the  date  of  1731. 

It  is  expected  that  the  State  will  accept  the  gift  and  provide 
a  fund  for  the  proper  care  of  the  forts. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  LAST  NIGHT  AT  THE  ST.  FREDERIC 

T^HE  day  had  been  one  of  pleasure,  beginning  with 
*  a  trip  across  the  lake  in  a  rowboat  in  the  early 
morning  hours,  the  party  consisting  of  our  host  Mr. 
Barnes,  my  daughter  (the  Christine  of  my  rambles). 
Professor  Maney,  and  myself.  Our  rambles  were 
fruitful  of  much  information  and  many  views.  After 
our  return  and  after  dinner,  I  retired  to  my  room 
for  a  siesta.  The  windows  overlooked  the  lake, 
glassy  in  the  mid-day  sun.  A  breeze  had  spiimg  up, 
and  short,  chopping  waves  raced  each  other  across  the 
bay.  The  seething  lap,  lap,  lap  of  the  surf,  at  first 
preventing  sleep,  at  last  lulled  me  to  rest. 

Twilight  came  and  our  party,  reinforced  by  two 
ladies,  guests  at  the  St.  Frederic,  gathered  on  the 
south  wing  of  the  veranda,  overlooking  the  bay  and 
the  Pointe  de  la  Chevelure.  To  the  right  was  Bul- 
wagga  Bay  and  the  old  Amherst  dock.  Dimly  seen, 
because  we  knew  where  to  look,  were  the  ruined  forts, 
embowered  in  the  foliage  of  stunted  trees  and  tower- 
ing pines  and  elms;  Lighthouse  Bay,  the  scene  of  the 
wonderful  pageant  of  the  Crown  Point  Tercentenary 
display,  and  then  the  lighthouse  on  the  Point.     As 

the  shadows  deepened,  a  gibbous  moon  shone  in  its 

362 


Silver  Birches,  Lake  George. 


Golden  Wavelets  363 

pale  twilight  lustre,  and  as  it  brightened  as  night 
stole  on  apace,  we  amused  ourselves  looking  for  the 
goddess  in  the  moon,  who  of  late  has  crowded  the 
Old  JNIan  out. 

To-night  the  lady  was  pre-eminent.  On  the  golden 
background  and  through  the  glass,  the  face  was  in- 
deed classic.  The  hair  thrown  back  from  a  high 
forehead,  straight  Grecian  nose  and  full  lips,  well- 
rounded  chin,  uptilted,  showing  the  pure  curves  of 
throat  and  shoulders,  eyebrows  and  eyes  well  defined. 
One  called  it  Tetrazzini,  another  a  Grecian  goddess, 
another  named  it  Nordica.  If  you  have  never  seen 
this  face  in  the  moon,  search  for  it  until  you  find  it. 
It  is  looking  to  the  north  and  fills  two  thirds  of  a 
full  moon. 

The  beacon  in  the  tower  of  the  lighthouse  flashed 
out  suddenlj^,  illumining  a  narrow  golden  path  across 
the  bay,  while  the  moonbeams,  now  bright,  touched 
the  crests  of  waves  and  ripples  with  golden  sheen. 
At  times  there  was  therefore  a  blaze  of  light,  to  be 
succeeded  by  innumerable  tiny  scintillations,  as  though 
a  million  fire-flies  were  in  a  mad  race  along  "  the  path 
paved  with  moonbeams." 

We  lingered  late,  and  the  stillness  of  the  air  and 
the  direction  of  the  wind,  brought  to  us  over  the 
waters  the  voices  of  merry-making  on  the  opposite 
shore.  A  female  voice  was  heard  calling :  "  Hey 
Bill,  bring  your  watermelon  down  here  on  the  rock." 
Probably  Bill  cut  his  watermelon  on  the  rock. 

Something  was  said  about  moonlight  scenes  by 
photograph,  and  we  were  told  that  many  of  them 


364  A  Tow  on  Lake  Champlain 

were  actually  sunlight  pictures.  The  Professor,  how- 
ever, brought  forward  his  camera  and  after  forty- 
five  minutes'  exposure,  and  with  no  light  but  the 
moon,  he  produced  a  genuine  moonlight  view,  quite 
artistic. 

We  were  to  bid  farewell  to  Lake  Champlain  in  the 
morning.  It  had  developed  an  unexpected  charm  to 
me,  for  although  I  had  been  up  and  down  the  lake 
many  times,  it  had  always  been  seen  from  the  deck 
of  a  steamer.  The  broad  lake  and  the  shores  to  the 
east,  stretching  away  to  the  foothills  of  the  mountains 
of  Vermont,  give  one  an  idea  of  a  great  expanse  of 
land,  of  cultivated  fields. 

I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  at  times  the  lake  was 
lashed  to  fury  and  that,  at  the  flood-time  of  the  year, 
the  water  was  raised  to  an  unwonted  height,  the  waves 
making  it  dangerous  for  small  craft. 

As  we  sat  at  breakfast,  one  morning,  looking  out 
through  the  frame  of  the  door,  the  sound  of  chug, 
chug  came  through  the  morning  air,  and  into  the 
picture  came  a  tug  with  a  long  line  taut.  A  barge 
passed  by,  then  two,  four,  six,  followed  unexpectedly 
by  two  square-rigged  schooners  with  sails  furled,  all 
in  the  tow.  Some  of  the  boats  were  loaded  with 
merchandise,  others  with  grain,  but  principally  with 
iron  ore,  en  route  to  the  smelting  furnaces  of  Port 
Heniy.  We  were  told  that  in  former  years,  this 
business  was  thriving,  but  the  cost  of  mining  and 
transportation  of  supplies  was  so  expensive  that  later 
on  the  industry  languished  and  died.  Of  late  years, 
however,  new  methods  of  smelting  have  rendered  in- 


Steamer  "Vermont"  365 

ferior  ore  highly  productive,  and  now  the  business  is 
so  profitable  that  it  produces  millions. 

The  day  we  returned  up  the  lake  the  wind  was 
blowing  hard,  and  although  the  morning  was  bright, 
the  lake  was  quite  rough.  Crossing  the  lake  near 
Crown  Point  village  was  a  primitive  ferryboat.  Its 
construction  was  somewhat  like  an  old-style  bateau, 
with  a  mast  and  sail,  sloop-rigged,  while  at  each  end 
was  a  movable  platform  to  make  easy  the  landing  of 
wagons.  A  boy  was  at  the  rudder,  while  a  bare- 
headed man  in  shirt  sleeves  and  one  suspender  and 
bare  feet,  was  on  the  running-board  manipulating  the 
sail. 

The  steamer  Vermont  is  really  a  commodious  up- 
to-date  steamer,  with  fittings  and  service  that  are  all 
that  could  be  desired. 

Thirty-five  years  ago  another  steamer  Vermont 
carried  passengers  from  Whitehall  to  Rouse  Point 
in  about  twelve  hours.  As  I  remember  it,  it  was  not 
a  palatial  boat  but  was  broad  and  tub-like  in  appear- 
ance. On  the  main  deck  forM^ard  were  stout  casks 
filled  with  sand,  usually  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
deck,  and  used  in  assisting  the  man  in  the  wheelhouse 
in  making  sharp  turns,  by  shifting  the  barrels,  and 
thus  throwing  weight  on  the  side  of  the  boat,  making 
the  boat  careen  in  going  around  a  point.  Par- 
ticularly was  this  noticeable  in  rounding  Cumberland 
Head  or  an  island. 

The  captain,  whose  name  was  long  familiar  on 
Lake  Champlain,  was  a  veritable  old  sea-dog  in  man- 
ner and  appearance,  although  I  doubt  if  he  had  ever 


366  Old-Time  Steamboat  Captain 

sniffed  salt  water.  I  recollect  that  we  had  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  him  from  a  very  firm  friend  of  his. 
He  read  the  letter  and  turned  away  without  remark. 

The  dining-table  filled  the  length  of  the  room,  and 
at  the  head  sat  the  captain,  before  whom  was  placed 
the  principal  dish  of  meat.  Coming  to  dinner  a  little 
late  we  found  that  seats  had  been  reserved  for  us 
at  the  captain's  right  hand.  The  waiters  were  young- 
students  from  a  near-by  college,  and  the  table  service 
was  very  unsatisfactory.  But  it  got  worse  as  the 
meal  progressed,  and  many  bottles  of  champagne 
were  removed  from  the  table,  half  filled,  before  the 
guests  were  through  with  them,  the  students  appro- 
priating them. 

At  a  later  stage  of  the  meal  a  diffident  young  man 
near  me  managed  to  spill  his  cup  of  coffee  on  the 
table  cloth.  This  act  alone  was  enough  to  make  the 
young  fellow  wish  that  the  bottom  of  the  boat  would 
open  and  let  him  out.  A  waiter  stepped  forward  to 
repair  the  damage,  when  the  captain  completed  his 
discomforture  by  stopping  the  waiter  with  the  re- 
mark, "  Don't  touch  the  cloth,  if  he  is  d fool 

enough  to  spill  his  coffee,  let  him  set  in  it." 

The  young  man  rose  from  the  table  and  fairly 
staggered  up  the  stairs,  and  effaced  himself  com- 
pletely during  the  rest  of  the  voyage. 

But  the  old  regime  has  passed  away  and  the  well- 
lighted  dining-hall  in  the  rear  of  the  main  cabin,  with 
its  table  d'hote  service,  is  a  pleasant  place  for  a  hungry 
tourist. 


Acknowledgment  for  valuable  information  absorbed  from 
various  sources  in  the  preparation  of  this  book. 

History  of  Queenshury. — Dr.  A.  W.  Holdbn. 

Monograph. — J.  H.  Holdbn. 

History  of  the  Five  Nations. — Cadwalader  Coldbn. 

Gazetteer,  1813, — Horatio  Gates  Spofford. 

Gazetteer,  1821. — Horatio  Gates  Spofford. 

Gazetteer,  I860.— J.  H.  French. 

Historical  Collections. — Barber  and  Howe. 

Jesuit  Relations. — Burrows  Bros.  &  Co. 

Geological  Purvey. — Warren  Upham. 

Doc.  Hist,   of  State  of  New   York. — E.    B.   O'Callaghan, 

M.D.,  LL.D. 
Col.  Doc.  of  State  of  New  York. — E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  M.D., 

LL.D. 
Macauley's  Hist,  of  State  of  Neiv  York. — Jambs  Macauley. 
Parkman's  Works. — Francis  Park  man. 
Battles  of  the  United  States. — Henry  B.  Dawson. 
Life  of  Israel  Putnam. — Col.  David  Humphrey. 
Life  of  Israel  Putnam. — Wm.  Farrand  Livingston. 
Harper's  Encyclopedia. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 
Voyages    of     Samuel    de    Champlain. — Anne     Nbttleton 

Bourne. 
Samuel  de  Champlain. — Edwin  Asa  Dix. 
Sir  William  Johnson's  Manuscripts. 

Thatcher's  Diary  of  the  Am.  Revolution. — Jambs  Thatcher. 
Monograph — First    Battle    of    Lake    Champlain. — Geo.    F. 

BixBY,  Miss  H.  S.  Bixby. 
Lotus  Eating. — George  William  Curtis. 

367 


368  Acknowledgment 

Valuable  Information. — M.  F.  Barnes. 
Lake  George. — Seneca  Ray  Stoddard. 
Photographs. — Mrs.  E.  E.  Baker. 
Lithographs. — Col.  J.  L.  Cunningham, 

Glens  Falls  Ins.  Co. 
Valuable  Assistance. — State  Historian  Victor  H.  Paltsits. 


INDEX 


Abenakis,  13,  88;  Praying  In- 
dians, 93;  village  in  Maine, 
169-170;  church  destroyed,  170 

Abercrombie,  James,  Major- 
General,  in  command  of  Brit- 
ish army,  139;  advance  on 
Ticonderoga,  142-145;  defeat, 
146;  retreat,  147;  superseded 
by  Amherst,  148,  164,  165; 
fear  of  Montcalm,  185;  per- 
sonal appearance,  253;  Sab- 
bath-day Point,  336 

Acadia,  10 

Adirondack  Mountains,  282, 
284,  320,  356 

Adirondacks,  Indians,  38;  with 
Champlain,  39-41 

Albany,  47;  wounded  French 
soldiers  sent  to,  47 

Algonquins,  13;  allies  of  Cham- 
plain,  17;  first  to  attack  Mo- 
hawks in  Champlain's  second 
battle,  1610,  18;  Adirondacks 
were  Algonquins,  38;  Confed- 
eracy, 86;  Dialects,  89;  Pray- 
ing Indians,  93;  Piscaret's 
band,  98-100,  125,  256;  lan- 
guage, 349 

Algonquin  Hotel  at  Bolton,  337, 
338 

Allen,  Ethan,  story  of  capture 
of  Fort  Ticonderoga,  194-223, 
228;  leader  of  Green  Moun- 
tain Boys,  229;  with  Arnold, 
233;  sent  to  Canada  and  cap- 
tured, 237;  iconoclast  at  work, 
254;  at  Hendee  House,  357 

Allen  F.  W.,  treasurer  of  St. 
Sacrement,  341 

Amherst  dock  at  Pointe  de  la 
Chevelure,  362 


Amherst,  General  Sir  Jeffreys, 
142;  campaign  of  1759,  147- 
149,  160;  order  to  Major 
Rogers,  175;  Rogers  with,  177; 
strengthens  Fort  Ticonderoga, 
250;  John  Skene  with,  288, 
294 
Andastes    Indians,    88;     at    La 

Prairie   93 
Anthony's  Nose,  344-346 
Arnold,  General  Benedict,  229; 
Arnold     in     the     Champlain 
Valley,    sketch,    233-238;    his 
war-vessel,  Revenge,  255,  270; 
flag-ship    Congress    at    Chim- 
ney Point,  357 
Arnold  and  Allen,  197-205 
Artillery  Cove,  Lake  George,  269 
Assembly  Point,  259,  267,  268 
Aubrey,    Captain,    at    Diamond 

Island,  331 
Au  Sable,  304 

Au  Sable  River,  tributary  of 
Lake  Champlain,  24,  36,  37, 
356 


B 


Baccalaos,  1 

Baker,  Remember,  229 

Baldwin,  346 

Ballston  Lake,  52 

Barber  and  Howe,  297 

Barnes,   Hon.   M.    F.,   355,   356, 

362 
Basque  fishermen,  1,  5 
Bastienne,  4,  6 
Bates,  Geo.  W.,  341 
Baum,  Colonel   F.,  272 
Bennington,  245,  272,  278 
Biard,  Pierre,  170 
Bimina,  2 
Bingley,  Lord,  273 


369 


3  70 


Inde 


X 


Bixby,  Dr.  Geo.  F.,  monograph 
on  Champlain's  first  battle, 
20-29 

Bixby,  W.  K.,  Bolton,  N.  Y., 
342 

Black  Watch,  at  Fort  Ticon- 
deroga,  147,  155;  inscription 
of,  165;  history  of,  166,  250 

Blair's  Bay,  345 

Blind  Rock,  glacial,  279,  280; 
torture,  281,  282 

Bloody  morning  scout  ambus- 
cade, 121 

Bloody  Pond,  skirmish,  123; 
"call  of  the  wild,"  316;  visit 
to,  317-319 

Bloody  trail,  276-279;  story 
of  Mr.  Schoonhoven,  286- 
287 

Bolton,  267;  organized  in  1799, 
Huddle  Bay  and  islands,  366- 
339;  visit  to,  340 

Bolton  Landing,  Church  of  St. 
Sacrement,  337,  341 

Boniface,  Francisco,  92 

Boquet  River,  24,  26;  descrip- 
tion of,  36;  Burgoyne  meets 
Indians,  271;  home  of  Wm. 
Gilliland,  296 

Boulle,  Helene,  bride  of  Cham- 
plain,  30-31 

Boulle,  Nicolas,  father  of  Helene, 
30 

Bouiiemarque,  Colonel  M.  de,  at 
Crown  Point,  250 

Braddock,  Major-General  Ed- 
ward, reappoints  Wm.  John- 
son Superintendent  of  Six 
>  Nations,  103;  conference  at 
Alexandria,  Va.,  104;  war- 
dance  at  Fort  Johnson  in  his 
honor,  108;  sent  to  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  115;  news  of  his  de- 
feat, 116,  141,  145 

Bradley,  Thaddeus,  307 

Bradstreet,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
John,  at  Ticonderoga,  143;  in 
the  forest,  154,  160 

Bi-ant,  Molly,  at  Fort  Johnson, 
1755,  106;  with  Col.  St.  Leger, 
272 

Brant,  Molly,  at  Fort  Johnson, 
105 


Brebeuf ,  Jean,  among  the 
Hurons,  41,  90 

Bressani,  Francisco  Giuseppe, 
88;  in  Mohawk  Valley,  91 

Brice,  James,  English  ambas- 
sador, 227 

Brown,  Colonel,  at  Diamond 
Island,  331 

Bruyas,  Jacques,  Jesuit  priest, 
92 

Buell,  Augustus  C,  141 

Bulwagga  Bay,  at  Crown  Point, 
25,  26,  224;  meaning  of  name, 
354;  in  the  moonlight,  362 

Burdick,  Nathan,  pioneer,  307 

Burgoyne,  General  Sir  John, 
meets  Indian  allies,  37,  147, 
236;  at  Crown  Point,  239,  244, 
246;  at  Mount  Hope,  256; 
sketch,  270-273;  at  Sandy 
Hill,  286;  killing  of  Jane 
McCrea,  290-293;  Champlain 
Valley,  296 

Burlington,  Vt.,  Tercentenary, 
228;  lumber  district,  352 

Burtch,  Benoni,  first  settler,  307 

Bush,  Mistress,  192 

Butler,  Captain  John,  105 

Butler, ,  first  settler,  307 


Cabot,  Sebastian,  1 

Caldwell,  James,  first  proprietor 

erected  grist  mill,  307;  erected 

hotel,  312 
Caldwell  village,  281,  305,  307 
Campbell,    Major    Duncan,    In- 

verawe,   wounded,   156;    story 

of,  161-165 
Carhiel,    Etienne    de,    with    the 

Senecas,  92 
Carignan-Salieres,        French 

veterans,  45,  49,  50,  52,  56 
Carillon,  name  of  fort,  118,  255 
Carleton,     Major     Christopher, 

destroyed  Fort  Ann  and  Fort 

George,  260 
Carleton,   General   Sir  Guy,  ex- 
pedition  to   Lake   Champlain, 

270;  enemy  of  Burgoyne,  272 
Cai'tier,  Jacques,  28,  36 
Carver,  Jonathan,  138 


Index 


371 


Castleton,  retreat  of  Americans 
to,  241,  242 

Caughnawaga,  mission  on  the 
St.  Lawrence,  84;  origin,  86, 
88;  Praying  Indians,  94,  95; 
Roman  Catholics,  111 ;  at  bat- 
tle of  Lake  George,  122,  189 

Cayadutta,  a  prehistoric  site,  12, 
40 

Cayuga  County,  282 

Cayugas,  fighting  strength  of, 
three  hundred  warriors,  19, 
88,  104,  283 

Chabanel,  90 

Chambly,  15,  225 

Champlain  Canal,  249,  251,  252 

Champlain,  Madame  Helene,  32 

Champlain,  Samuel  de,  voyages 
and  sketch,  9-24;  first  battle 
with  the  Mohawks,  26-32,  35, 
36,  40,  69,  125;  Tercentenary, 
227,  350,  354 

Champlain  Valley,  hunting 
gi'ounds  of  the  Mohawks,  12; 
highway  to  New  France,  13; 
battle-ground  of  the  giants  of 
Europe,  112;  Tercentenary, 
228;  development,  351 

Chastes,  Aymar  de,  9 

Chaumonot,  91 

Chazy,  M.  de,  49;  killed  by  Mo- 
hawks, 49-51,  56,  58,  64,  73, 
85 

Chazy  River,  23,  24;  tributary 
to  Lake  Champlain,  36;  named 
for  M.  de  Chazy,  49 

Cherokees,  88,  140 

Chimney  Point,  355,  357,  360 

Christine,  362 

Chubb's  dock,  342 

Church  of  St.  James,  340,  341 

Church  of  St.  Sacrement,  337, 
340 

Claus,  Daniel,  105,  106 

Clement,  Jacobus,  105 

Cleverdale,  267 

Clinton,  Governor  George,  103 

Golden,  Cadwallader,  38 

Cooper's  Cave,  316 

Courcelle,  M.  de,  Governor  of 
New  France,  abortive  expedi- 
tion against  the  Mohawks,  45- 
53 


Couture,  Guillame,  42 

Crary,  Rev.  R.  F.,  34 

Crosbyside,  306 

Crown  Point,  latitude,  17;  Bix- 
by's  argument,  20,  21,  24-28; 
French  expedition  for,  103; 
reduction  of,  104;  Major-Gen- 
eral Johnson  to  march  on,  114, 
115,  117;  coveted  by  English 
and  French,  127;  Montcalm 
at,  128;  cannibalistic  feast  at, 
131 ;  English  expedition  of 
1758,  142;  Amherst  expedi- 
tion, 1759,  148,  149;  Rogers's 
rangers,  172;  Amherst's  let- 
ter, 175;  location  of,  224; 
Tercentenary,  228;  Arnold  at, 
236;  Burgoyne  at,  239;  Fort 
St.  Frederic  at,  248;  Am- 
herst erects  fort,  251;  Bur- 
goyne captures,  270;  Major 
Skene  in  charge  of,  288;  visit 
to,  353-361 

Cumberland  Head,  23,  98,  365 

Curtis,  George  William,  305, 
306,  310 


D 


Dablon,  91 

Dalzell,  Captain  James,  with 
Putnam,  188,  190 

Daniel,  Antoine,  90 

Delancey,  Gov.  James,  104 

Delawares,  Leni  Lenape,  105, 
110 

Dellius,  Godfridens,  276 

D'Estrees,  Gabrielle,  mistress  of 
Henry  IV.,  31 

De  Mantet,  Dailleboust,  at 
Schenectady,  277 

Derby,  Earl  of,  273 

Diamond  Island,  259,  268,  313; 
rattlesnakes,  327 

Dieskau,  Baron  de,  11;  moves 
forces  to  Carillon,  118;  ad- 
vances up  Wood  Creek  and 
prepares  ambuscade,  119 ; 
battle  of  Lake  George,  121 ; 
wounded,  122;  defeated  and 
a  prisoner,  123,  127;  Praying 
Indians  with,  171,  231,  318 


3  / 


Index 


Dinwiddie,  Governor  Robert,  at 

Alexandria,  Va.,  104 
Downie,      Commodore      George, 

battle  of  Plattsburg,  299 
Dresden,  342 
Dunham  Bay,  267,  268 
Durantaye,     Captain     Oliver 

Morel  de  la,  defeats  Rogers's 

rangers,  178 
Dutch  East  India  Company,  34 


E 


Eckles,  Lady  Betsey,  295 
Edmonds,  Andrew,  first  settler, 

307 
Eggleston,    Edward,    author, 

home  of,  267 
Erie  Canal,  building  of,  351 
Eries,  Indians,  88;  exterminated 

by  Iroquois,  90 


Fayaway,    Melville's    "  Typee," 

311 
Fermoy,  General  de,  242 
Floating  bridge,  285 
Folsom,      Captain,      attack      at 

Bloody  Pond,  123,  318 
Forts : 

Amherst,  ruins  of  (1759), 
358;  gateway,  359;  moat, 
360;  ramparts,  361 

Ann,  188;  attacked  by  Bur- 
goyne,  244;  burned  by  re- 
treating Americans,  245 ; 
destroyed  by  Major  Chris- 
topher Carleton,  260 

Chambly,  on  the  Richelieu, 
302 

Duquesne,  now  Pittsburg,  Pa., 
104,  113,  115;  horror  at 
massacre,  145 

Edward,  Johnson  arrived  at, 
August  14,  1755,  116;  road 
to,  117;  Colonel  Lyman  at, 
118;  Dieskau's  Indians  re- 
fuse to  attack  fort,  119; 
General  Webb  at,  133;  dis- 
order and  massacre  on  road 


to,  135-141;  Duncan  Camp- 
bell buried  at,  165;  Rogers 
at,  172,  177;  St.  Clair's 
fugitives  at,  271;  fort  de- 
scribed, 277;  a  bloody  trail, 
278;  McCrea  family  near, 
291,  304 

George,  on  old  road  to  Fort 
Edward,  135,  314;  sheltered 
fugitives  from  Fort  William 
Henry,  139;  Amherst  makes 
plans  for  fort,  148;  "Mys- 
terious Fort  George,"  230; 
a  small-pox  hospital,  232; 
destroyed,  260;  ruin,  314 

Hunter,  55,  60,  102 

Johnson,  great  Indian  coun- 
cil at,  102;  whiskey  at,  109; 
Sir  Wm.  Johnson's  office, 
112;  conference  with  Chero- 
kees  at,  140 

Lyman,  named  by  Sir  Wm. 
Johnson  in  1755,  118;  Dies- 
kau's forces  on  road  to, 
119;  scouting  party  from, 
attacks  party  of  enemies  at 
Bloody  Pond,  123;  descrip- 
tion of,  277;  name  changed 
to  Fort  Edward,  277;  Cap- 
tain Folsom  and  McGinnis 
from,  318 

Miller,  referred  to,  173; 
block-house  at  Half-way 
Brook,  278 

Montgomery,  331-335 

Orange,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  re- 
ferred to,  80,  84;  Bressani 
sold  at,  91 

Richelieu,  on  the  Richelieu 
River,  302 

St.  Anne,  on  Isle  La  Motte, 
50,  51;  Captain  Chazy  at, 
56 

St.  Frederic,  21;  on  Crown 
Point  Peninsula,  extreme 
French  outpost  in  1731,  25; 
ruins,  224,  225 ;  garrison  of, 
225;  named  for  Frederic 
Maurepas,  226,  355;  de- 
scribed, 358-360 

St.  Louis,  on  Richelieu  River, 
45,  46 

San  Marco,  359 


Index 


0/ J 


Forts — Continued. 

St.  Theresa,  ten  miles  above 
Richelieu  Falls,  45,  46 

Stanwix,  at  Rome,  N.  Y.,  147; 
Arnold  marches  to  the  re- 
lief of,  236;  locks  at,  350 

Ticonderoga,  called  Carrillon 
by  the  French,  118;  Mont- 
calm leaves  soldiers  at,  128; 
Abercrombie's  attack,  142- 
145;  Amherst's  advance, 
148;  partly  reconstructed, 
148;  Lord  Howe  at,  154; 
Major  Putnam  at,  188; 
Allen  and  Arnold,  194- 
208;  capture  of  fortress, 
194-223;  Arnold's  conduct 
at,  233;  Arnold  in  com- 
mand, 236;  Schuyler  in 
command,  July,  1775,  238; 
Burgoyne  invests,  239;  oc- 
cupied by  General  Haldi- 
man  in  1780,  246;  described, 
249,  250;  distance  from 
Lake  George,  252;  location 
of  fort,  253,  254;  restora- 
tion, 256;  floating  bridge 
at,  286;  St.  Clair  retreats, 
289;  Colonel  Brown  cap- 
tures outworks,  231 

Vaudreuil,  253 

William  Henry,  Sir  William 
Johnson  builds,  127;  Colonel 
Moni-o  commands,  127;  in- 
vestment and  surrender, 
128-136;  massacre,  137, 
138,  139;  Johnson,  rage  at 
Webb,  140,  141;  Praying 
Indians  with  Montcalm, 
171,  259;  remains  of  the 
ruins,  312 
Fort  William  Henry  Hotel,  259, 

312    338 
Forty-fifth  parallel,  331-335 
Francis,  Colonel,  242,  243 
Francois,  Marguerite's  lover,  4, 

6    ' 
Fraser,  General  Simon,  at  Hub- 

bardton,  242,  243,  244,  271 
Fremin,  Jacques,  91,  92 
Frey,  S.  L.,  55 
Friendly    Point,    Lake    George, 

344 


Frye,  Colonel,  136,  137 
G 

Galway,  52 

Gandawague,  93 

Garakontie,  44,  92 

Garnier,  Julien,  90,  92 

Garoga,  site  of  prehistoric  Mo- 
hawk village,  12,  40 

Gast,  Pierre  de,  10 

Gates,  General  Horatio,  Ar- 
nold's bravery,  236;  army  of, 
290;  letter  from  Burgoyne, 
292 

George,  Lake,  village,  267; 
formerly  Caldwell,  281 ; 
sketch,  304-315 

Gilliland,  William,  misfortunes 
of,  293-296 

Glacial,  279 

Glens  Falls,  46,  52;  Johnson. 
General,  builds  road  from 
Lake  George  to,  117;  bloody 
trail,  278;  visit  of  George 
William  Curtis,  305 

Goddess  of  the  Moon,  363 

Goupil,  Rene,  with  the  Mo- 
hawks in  1642,  42;  mas- 
sacred, 90 

Grand  Island,  story  of  Piscaret, 
98 

Grand  Pre,  169 

Grant,  Mrs.,  of  Laggan's  Mem- 
oirs of  an  American  Lady,  150 

Great  Meadows,  George  Wash- 
ington at,  113 

Green  Mountain  Boys,  with 
Ethan  Allen,  194-206;  New 
Hampshire  grants,  229;  shake 
in  their  graves,  254 

Greenfield,  route  of  Tracy's 
French  troops,  52 

Grenadier  battery,  visit  to,  254 ; 
built  to  correct  an  error,  255 

Grove  Hotel,  267 


H 


Hague,  335,  343 
Hale,     Horatio,     Indian     name, 
247 


374 


Index 


Half  Moon,  Hudson's  ship,  34 
Half-way    Brook    runs    through 
the    village    of    Glens    Falls, 
278,  330 
Hampshire  Grants,  229 
Happy     Family     Island,     Lake 

George,  259 
Harris  Bay,  259,  265 
Harris,  Moses,  259,  260 
Harris,  William,  259-266 
Haviland,    Colonel    William,    in 
command     at     Fort    Edward, 
177 
Hendee      House      at      Chimney 

Point,  Vt.,  357 
Hendrick,  Caroline,  106 
Hendrick,  Charlotte,  106 
Hendrick,   Chief,   discontent   of, 
102;    at    Fort    Johnson,    107; 
speaks  at   Lake  George,  114; 
with    General    William    John- 
son,   116;    advice    to    General 
Johnson,  119;  killed  in  morn- 
ing   scout    at    Lake    George, 
120;   statue,  314;   site  of  the 
morning  scout,  318 
Hendrick,     William,     of     Cana- 

joharie,  106 
Henry  of  Navarre,  30 
Hill,  Hon.  Henry  W.,  227 
Hircois  Lake,  corruption  of  Iro- 
quois,   43;    Indian    name    for 
Lake  Champlain,  349 
History  of  Queensbury,  231 
Hochelaga,  Montreal,  2,  9 
HoflFman,  N.  Y.,  94 
Holden,    Dr.    A.    W.,    story    of 
Van    Wormer,    173;    story   of 
Rogers's     escape,     177;     Fort 
George,     story     of     old     Bill 
Harris    259 
Holden,  J.  A.,  bloody  trail,  278 
Horicon,    Lake,    Cooper's    name 

for  Lake  George,  43 
Hotel  St.  Frederic,  Hon.  M.  F. 
Barnes  at,  355;  grand  pano- 
rama from,  356,  357;  keel  of 
the  Congress  at,  357;  twi- 
light at,  362 
Howe,  Lord  George  Augustus, 
encounters  French  detachment, 
143;  burial  of,  150;  sketch, 
151;  with  Stark  and  Putnam, 


154;    buried    in    St.    Peter's, 
156;   record  of  burial,  157;  a 
claim  that  the  bones  of  Lord 
Howe    have    been    found    at 
Ticonderoga,  158,  159 
Howe's  Landing,  252 
Hubbardton,  242,  271,  278 
Huddle  Bay,  267,  337,  338 
Hudson,  Henry,  voyages,  33-36, 

350 
Hudson's  River,  names,  34,  35; 

twin  to  Au  Sable,  37 
Hughes,  Governor,  228 
Huletts  Landing,  342-343 
Humphreys,       Colonel       David, 
History     of     General     Israel 
Putnam,  182,  187 
Hunt,  Obadiah,  307 
Hurons,    with    Champlain,    19; 
exterminated,  90;   enemies  of 
the  Mohawks,  125 


Illinois,  Algonquin,  88 

Indian  Kettles  on  Blair's  Bay, 
345 

Inland  Lock  and  Navigation 
Company  on  Mohawk  River, 
350 

Iroquois,  terrible,  11 ;  the 
Mohaws,  17;  strength  of, 
19;  Bixby's  story,  21-24; 
Champlain's  battle,  27,  28, 
29;  early  history  of  the  Mo- 
hawks, 39;  treaty  between 
New  France  and  the,  44,  50; 
Confederacy  of,  86,  87;  war 
with  Hui*ons,  90;  converts 
from,  95;  great  activity,  101; 
council  at  Fort  Johnson,  103- 
112;  speech  of  Hendrick,  114; 
battle  of  Lake  George,  116- 
124;  joins  Webb  under  John- 
son, 141 ;  legend  of  mosquito, 
282;  names,  349 

Iroquois  River,  Richelieu,  15; 
Champlain  on,  in  1609,  20; 
had  three  names  in  1664,  302; 
communication  from  Hudson 
to  the  St.  Lawrence  via,  350 

Iroquois,  the  great  council,  102 


Index 


375 


Islands,  Demons,  3,  7;  La  Motte, 
49,  50,  51,  228,  234;  Aux  Noir, 
251;  Prisoners',  252;  Clay, 
338;  Dome,  338;  Hiawatha, 
338;  Leontine,  338;  Recluse, 
338;  Sweetbriar,  338 


Jacques,  Lieutenant  Benjamin, 
170 

Jesuit  Relation,  91,  301 

Jesuits,  41,  43 

Jogues,  Isaac,  martyr  and  saint, 
41;  capture  of  1642,  42; 
killed,  43,  88,  90;  monument 
to,  337 

Johnson,  Sir  John,  272 

Johnson,  Mary,  105 

Johnson,  Nancy    (Anna),  105 

Johnson,  Sir  William,  changed 
name,  Lac  du  St.  Sacrement 
to  Lake  George,  43 ;  council 
at  Fort  Johnson,  102-112; 
Hendrick's  speech,  114,  115; 
expedition  to  Crown  Point 
and  battle  of  Lake  George, 
116-123;  made  baronet,  124; 
built  Fort  William  Henry, 
127;  joined  Webb  with  six 
hundred  Iroquois,  141 ;  opin- 
ion of  Major  Robert  Rogers, 
174,  180,  181;  rangers  with 
Johnson,  1755,  188,  231;  re- 
names Fort  Lyman,  277;  con- 
structed Corduroy  road,  278; 
statue,  314 

Jones,  Lieutenant  David,  Jane 
McCrea's  lover,  291,  293 

Joshua  Rock,  home  of  Edward 
Eggleston,  267,  268 

Jovency,  Joseph,  301 

Jusserand,  J.  J.,  French  am- 
bassador, 228 


K 


Kalm,  Peter,  226 
Kattskill  Bay,  268 
Kattskill  Hotel,  268 
Kay-a-de-ros-se-ros,         hunting- 
ground  of  Mohawks,  52 


Kennebec,  169,  170 

Kicapoo,  88 

Kinaquarione,  at  Hoffman, 
N.  Y.,  94 

Kryn,  the  great  Mohawk,  86; 
convert  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
93;  settled  at  La  Prairie  on 
the  St.  Lawrence,  94;  at  the 
massacre  of  Schenectady,  95 ; 
killed  at  Salmon  River,  95 


Lac  du  St.  Sacrement,  name 
given  by  Isaac  Jogues,  42,  43 ; 
to  perpetuate  name,  44;  John- 
son changes  name,  117;  Peter 
Schuyler  misspells  name,  248, 
256 

La  Chine,  12 

Lake  Como,  310,  311 

Lake  House,  on  Lake  George, 
306 

Lake  Iroquois,  post-glacial,  280; 
causar  in,  301,  349 

Lake  Memphremagog,  177 

Lake  St.  Lawrence,  post-gla- 
cial, 280 

Lake  Simcoe,  abode  of  the  Hu- 
rons,  66 

Lalamant,  Gabriel,  90 

Lalande,  91 

Lamoille  River,  37 

La  Moyne,  Father  Simon,  77;  at 
Oneida,  80;  to  the  Mohawks, 
91 

La  Prairie  de  la  Magdelene, 
Mission  of  Praying  Indians, 
93,  94 

Larrabee's  Point  on  Lake 
Champlain,  353 

La  Tour,  65,  66 

Lemoyne,  Sieur  Charles  de,  at 
Schenectady,  277 

Lescarbot,  Marc,  15 

Les  Mille  Isles,  14 

Levi,  M.  de,  144 

Levis,  Chevalier  de,  132 

Lewis,  Rev.  M.  F.,  341 

Lighthouse  Bay,  362 

Lincoln,   General,  331 

Little  Falls,  350 

Livingston,  Wm.  Farrand,  182 


376 


Index 


Long  Island,  259,  267 

Loreles,  Armand  de,  56-85 

Loreles,  Jean,  65-72 

Lost  on  the  trail,  320-326 

Lotbiniere,  248 

Lotus  Eating,  305 

Loudoun,  Earl  of,  139 

Loyola,  Ignace,  41 

Lyman,  Colonel  Phineas,  at 
Lake  George,  116-118;  in 
command,  122;  erected  Fort 
Lyman,  277 


M 


McCauley,  James,  142,  239 

McCrea,  James,  292 

McCrea,   Jane,    165;    murdered, 

278,  288;   story  of,  291,  293; 

burial  places,  293 
McCrea,  Colonel  John,  292 
McGinnis,  Captain,  123,  318 
McNeil,  Mrs.,  291,  292 
Macaulay,       Thos.       Babington, 

historian,  162 
Macomb,      General      Alexander, 

299 
Macdonough,    Captain    Thomas, 

299 
Mahicans,  13,  94,  125 
Maney,  John   Arthur,  316,  317, 

362,  364 
Marguerite,   niece    of    Sieur    de 

Roberval,  3,  4,  6,  7 
Marie  of  the  legend,  63-85 
Marie  of  the  Incarnation,  64 
Marin,  M.  Cadet,  188,  277 
Marion  House,  268 
Mascoutins,  Indians,  88 
Masse,  Ennemond,  170 
Maurepas,     Frederic,     Fort     St. 

Frederic  named  for  him,  22G 
Meade,  Mrs.  Charles  M.,  341 
Medici,  Marie  de,  31 
Melville,     Herman,     author     of 

"  Typee,"  311 
Memphremagog,  177 
Menard,  91 
Mercier,  Le,  91 
Michilimacknac,  181 
Micmac,  88 
Micmac.  Pierre,  92 
Milton,  N.  Y.,  52 


Missesquoiat,  37 

Mission  of  the  Martyrs,  44 

Mogg  Megone,  170 

Mohawks,  at  Hochelaga,  Mont- 
real, 9;  prehistoric  sites  of, 
12;  Champlain's  first  battle 
with,  15-17;  Champlain's 
second  battle  with,  18-21 ; 
early  history  of  38,  39;  Tracy 
marches  against,  43-50 ; 
Tracy's  second  expedition,  52- 
54;  Tracy  destroys  Mohawk 
castles,  54-55;  war  with 
Huron-Iroquois,  90 ;  battle 
with  Piscaret's  band,  96-99; 
council  at  Fort  Johnson,  105- 
106;  with  Johnson  at  Lake 
George,  117-124;  with  John- 
son at  Fort  Edward,  141; 
claimed  peninsula  of  Crown 
Point,  225 

Mohawk  Valley,  evidences  of 
prehistoric  sites  along,  12; 
early  Jesuit  priests  killed  in 
the,  41 ;  Mohawks  protected 
the  settlers  of  the  valley,  125; 
Abercrombie's  army  d  i  s- 
tributed  along  the  valley  after 
retreat  from  Ticonderoga, 
147;  Mohawk  Valley  Dutch- 
men with  "  Bill "  Harris, 
262;  bloody  trail  led  to, 
277;  post-glacial  Iroquois 
flowed  to  the  sea  through  the, 
280;  Inland  Lock  and  Navi- 
gation Company,  350 

Mohican  House,  341,  342 

Mohicans,  Last  of,  314 

Molang,  Putnam  captured  by, 
188;  treats  Putnam  kindly, 
191 

Monro,  Colonel  George,  in  com- 
mand of  Fort  William  Henry, 
127;  defeats  Montcalm's  at- 
tempt at  surprise,  128;  finds 
situation  critical,  133-134; 
Webb  refuses  reinforcements, 
141;  overwhelmed,  312,  314 

Montezuma  Marshes,  283 

Montagnes,  with  Champlain,  14, 
15,  16;  in  battle  of  1610,  18, 
27,  29,  62;  Algonquin  Nation, 
88,  125,  354 


Index 


377 


Montcalm,  Genei*al  Louis  de,  on 
Lake  Champlain  in  1757,  128; 
advances  to  attack  Fort  Wil- 
liam Henry,  131-136,  141;  in 
command  at  Fort  Ticonde- 
roga,  1758,  171;  Abercrom- 
bie's  fear  of,  188 

Montcalm  Bay,  269 

Montmagny,  Charles  Huault  de, 
Governor  of  New  France,  suc- 
ceeds Champlain,  99 

Montour,  Captain  Andrew,  116 

Montreal,  Hochelaga,  9;  In- 
dians return  with  plunder  to 
139;  Amherst  captures,  149 
Putnam  prisoner  at,  191 
Allen  defeated  and  captured 
at,  237;  St.  Leger  troops  at, 
272 ;  expedition  to  Lake 
Champlain  fi-om,  299 

Monts,  Sieur  de,  10 

Mosquito,  legend  of,  283 

Mount  Defiance,  Americans  do 
not  fortify,  239;  British  erect 
battery,  240;  British  capture 
Fort  Ticonderoga,  246,  255; 
sketch,  257;  St.  Clair  evacu- 
ates, 286;  view  of,  345,  346 

Mount  Desert,  colony  at,  170 

Mount  Independence,  Defiance 
commands,  239;  troops  at, 
put  in  motion,  242;  supplies 
lost  at,  245;  heights  on  Lake 
Champlain,  257;  bridge  of 
boats  at,  285 ;  view  from 
steamer,  354 

Mount  Johnson,  on  Mohawk 
River,  council  at,  102 

Mountains : 

Anthony's   Nose,  344;   beauty 

of,  346 
Beach,  344 
Black,  height,  279,  337;  Gorge 

at  Huletts,  342,  343 
Boreas,  high  peak,  356 
Buck,  towering  peak,  267,  268; 
view  from  Bolton  Bay,  337, 
338;  view  in  haze,  343 
Cooks,  west  of  outlet  of  Lake 

George,   346 
Dix,  sunset  vista,  356 
Dresden,     heights     on     Lake 
Champlain,  331 


Elephant,  view  of,  337,  343 
French,      267;      view      from 

Bloody  Pond,  318,  319 
Green     Mountains,     view     of, 

356 
Hoffman,  356 

Hope,    General    Phillips   occu- 
pies,   240;    in    the    gloaming, 

256,  257 
Marcy,  in  the  sunset,  356 
Pilot,  view,  337 
Prospect,    lost    on    the    ti'ail, 

320.  326;  under  its  shadow, 

340 
Shelving  Rock,  343 
Spruce,  342 
Sugar-loaf,  343 
Tongue,  337,  343 
Trembleau,      north      end      of 

Adirondacks  on  Lake  Cham- 
plain,  356 
White  Face,  high  peak,  356 
Murray,  Lord  John,  145 

N 

Nadeau,  J.  E.,  360 
Neuters,  88,  89,  90,  93 
New  Hampshire  Grants,  229 
Niagara,  104 
Norridgewock,  170 
Notre  Dame  de  Foy,  93 


O 


O'Callaghan,  E.  B.,  151 

Ogilvie,  Rev.  Mr.,  105 

Ogquagas,  105 

Ojibwas,  88 

Old-time  steamboat  captain,  365 

Oneidas,  strength  of,  19;  French 

attempt  to  intimidate,  44,  45; 

Courcelle's      explanation      of 

failure,  47,  104 
Onondagas,     strength     of,     19; 

Jesuit  priests   among,   91-93; 
Oriskany,   147;   failure  of   Bur- 

goyne's  plan  at,  272 
Otstungo,  12 
Ottawas,  88 
Otter  Creek,  37 
Ottrowana,  Cayuga  sachem,  109 


378 


Index 


Paltsits,  Victor  Hugo,  332 

Parce,  Rev.  Dwight  R.,  341 

Parker,  Colonel,  131 

Parkman,  Francis,  9,  41,  113, 
139,  145,  170 

Parks,  Cyrenus,  261,  263,  267 

Parks,  Joseph,  263 

Peabody,  Geo.  T.,  341 

Pell,  Rowland,  227 

Pell,  Mrs.  H.  P.,  proposed  re- 
storation of  Ticonderoga,  228; 
Pell  mansion,  353 

Penfield,  E.  H.,  of  Bolton,  N.  Y., 
342 

Penobscot,  169 

Phagan,  Elizabeth,  295 

Phillips,  General,  240 

Pierre,  65 

Pierron,  92 

Piscaret,  his  battle  with  Mo- 
hawks, 96-99 

Plattsburg,  battle  of,  299-301 

Plattsburg,  services  at,  228; 
burning  of  Phoenix,  297;  bat- 
tle of,  299-301 

Plattsburg  Bay,  299 

Pointe  au  la  Chevelure,  sup- 
posed scene  of  first  battle,  20; 
name  for  Crown  Point,  1689, 
224;  last  night,  352-356 

Ponce  de  Leon,  2 

Pont  le  Roy,  chief  engineer, 
248 

Pope,  Mrs.  Hannah,  183 

Port  Henry,  354-356;  iron 
mines,  364 

Potter,  Christopher,  307 

Potts,  Dr.  Jonathan,  307 

Poultney  River,  37 

Poutrincourt,  Baron  de,  10,  11 

Praying  Indians,  on  the  St. 
Lawrence,  93-95;  St.  Francis 
Indians,  171;  Catholic  In- 
dian captures  Putnam,  189 

Prescott,  General  Richard,  237 

Prevost,  Sir  George,  299 

Prisoners'  Island,  253 

Prospect  Mountain,  in  a  mist, 
314;  location,  319 

Prosser,  Elias,  307 

Putnam,  John,  182 


Putnam,  Israel,  Major-General, 
with  Lord  Howe,  154;  knew 
Howe  was  killed,  160;  life  of, 
182-183 

Putnam's  ride,  192,  193 


Q 


Quackenbush,  John,  287 

Quebec,  Champlain's  camp 
three  hundred  leagues  from 
the  Mohawk's  country,  15; 
Madame  Helene  Champlain  at, 
32,  40,  46;  Tracy  lands  at, 
50,  51 ;  Piscaret's  party  re- 
turns, 99;  Arnold's  march, 
236;  Harris's  party  prison- 
ers at,  260 

Queenshxiry,  History  of,  260, 
320 

"  Queen's  Own  Rangers,"  Rogers 
commanding,  181 


R 


Raffeix,  Pierre,  92 

Ragueneau,  Paul,  91 

Rale,  Father  Sebastian,  death 
of,  170,  171 

Rattlesnakes,  227-330 

"  Rattlesnake  Cobble,"  320 

Recluse  Island,  338 

Recollets,  170 

Redhead,  Onondaga  sachem  at 
Great  Council,  106,  107,  108, 
110 

Richelieu  River  (Iroquois), 
Champlain  on,  15;  Cham- 
plain's  second  battle  on,  18; 
Champlain's  latitude  of,  28; 
name  of,  43;  first  fort  on,  45; 
formerly  called  Sorel  River, 
50;  Piscaret  on,  98;  Arnold 
attacks  St.  John  on,  238; 
Great  Lakes  flow  through, 
280 

Richmond,  A.  G.,  55 

Riedesel  Baron,  Major-General, 
at  Hubbardton,  243,  271;  at 
Fort  Amherst,  330 

Roberval,  Sieur  de,  voyage,  2,  7, 
8;  story  of  Marguerite,  3-6 

Rocque,  Jean  Francois  de  la,  1,  2 


Index 


379 


Rogers,  Robert  Major,  pic- 
turesque personage,  140;  with 
Lord  Howe,  160;  order  from 
General  Johnson,  174;  John- 
son's opinion  of,  180,  181; 
early  connected  with  Major 
Putnam,  187;  in  battle  with 
Marin,  188,  189,  253;  Rogers's 
escape,   347 

Rogers's  rangers,  173,  178,  187, 
226,  262 

Rogers's  Rock,  179,  336,  345, 
347 

Rogers's  Rock  Hotel,  346,  347 

Rogers's  Slide,  179,  180 

Roubaud,  Pierre,  128-131,  135 

Rouse,  Jacques,  335 

Rouse  Point,  27,  37;  Arnold  at, 
234,  302,  335 

Rutland,  245 

Ruttenber,  E.  M.,  247 


Sabbath-day  Point,  Amherst  at, 
131 ;     Abercrombie's    landing, 
154;    in   the   town   of   Hague, 
336,  343 
Sable  Island,  9 
Sacred  Heart  Church,  268 
Sandy  Hill,  286 
Saranac  River,  23,  36,  37 
Saratoga  County,  52,  352 
Saratoga,  old,  226,  236,  246  272, 

277,  278,  290 
Scarron  Lake,  14 
Scarron  River,  14,  315 
Schenectady,  46,  47,  277 
Schoharie  River,  78,  79 
Schoonhoven,  Mr.,  286,  287 
Schuyler,  Major  Peter,  247,  248 
Schuyler,    Philip,    describes    old 
Fort  George,  232;  in  command 
at  Ticonderoga,  238,  241,  244, 
245;  harasses  Burgoyne,  271 
Seneca  River,  263 
Senecas,    number    of    warriors, 

19;  some  at  La  Prairie,  93 
Shaw,  Daniel,  307 
Sheldon  House,  267,  268 
Shelving  Rock,  243 
Sherman,  J.,  Vice-Pi-esident,  228 
Sherman,  Richard  M.,  297-298 


Shirley,  William,  at  council  at 
Alexandria,  Va.,  104;  Hen- 
drick  scores  him,  114,  115,  116 

Sillery,  99 

Silver  Bay,  343 

Simpson,  John  B.,  341 

Skene,  Philip,  captured,  238; 
secures  large  patent  for  land, 
288,  289 

Skenesboro,  238;  St.  Clair  sends 
beggars  and  supplies  to,  241 ; 
settled  by  Philip  Skene,  288, 
289;  Colonel  Brown  at,  331 

Sorel,  15,  238,  271,  302,  350 

Souriquois,  88 

South  Bay,  118,  119 

Spaniards,   1 

Spofford's  Gazetteer,  224,  287 

Sprakers,  55 

St.  Augustine,  359 

St.  Clair,  Arthur,  Major-Gen- 
eral,  commands  at  Ticonde- 
roga, 238;  size  of  garrison 
inadequate,  239;  call  council 
of  war,  241 ;  evacuates  Fort 
Ticonderoga,  242,  245,  271; 
crosses  bridge  of  boats,  286; 
burns  Skenesboro,  289 

St.  Francis  Indians,  village  de- 
stroyed by  Rogers's  rangers, 
169-171 ;  sacked  and  burnt, 
176 

St.  Francois  du  Sault,  94 

St.  Francois  Xavier  du  Prez,  94 

St.  John,  Arnold  surprises,  238 ; 
Burgoyne  at,  270 

St.  Lawrence  River,  Champlain 
sails  up,  9;  Kryn  visits,  93, 
94,  98;  French  mission  on, 
101;  Caughnawagas  on.  111, 
125,  126,  128,  149,  170;  Bill 
Harris,  266;  bloody  trail  from, 
280;  grants  made  on,  294 

St.  Leger,  Colonel  Barry,  his 
army  turned  back  at  Oris- 
kany,  236;  approach  of  Ar- 
nold creates  panic,  272 

Stadcone,  2,  11 

Stanton,  John,  304 

Stanwix,  General  John,  147 

Stark,  Major  John,  154,  160, 
179;  Rogers  rescued  by  Stark, 
180,  253;  at  Hoosic,  272 


38o 


Index 


Steamers : 

Burlington,  298 

Caldwell,  308 

Champlain,  309 

Clermoxt,   309 

Congress,   309 

General  Greene,  309 

Horlcon,  309 

Jo/m  Jay,  309,  344 

Minnehaha,  309 

Mohican,  309 

Mountaineer,  309 

Phoenix,  309;  burning  of  the, 
298 

Phoenix  2d,  309 

Sagamore,  309,  346 

Ticonderoga,  309 

Vermont,  309 
Stevens,  Arent,  105,  109 
Stoddard,  S.  R.,  341,  344 
Stone,  W.  L.,  140 
Surrendered    troops,    convention 

of,  274,  275 
Sylvester,     Nathaniel     Bartlett, 

author    of    Adirondack     Wil- 
derness, 42 


Taft,    President  William  M.,   at 

Tercentenary,  228 
Tercentenary,  227,  339.  361,  362 
Therese,  legend  of,  56-85 
Thevet,  Andre,  5,  7,  8 
Thierot,  Miss  Henrietta,  341 
Thompson,  Colonel  Robert,  228 
Ticonderoga,  at  mouth  of  Lake 
George,  15;  latitude  of,  17,  22, 
24,  27-29;   French  build  fort 
at,  127;  Abercrombie  attacks, 
143-147;  partly  reconstructed, 
148,    151,    153;    death    of    In- 
verawe,    165,    172,    173,    174, 
178,       228;       Gates's       head- 
quarters, July,  1776,  228,  238; 
retreat    from,    242-246,    249- 
250;   Grenadier  Battery,  255; 
ramble,     252-258,     347,     353, 
356 
Ti-on-on-da-ro-ga,  60,  64,  78 
Tobacco  Nation,  88,  89 
Tracy-Courcelle,  48 


Tracy,  Marquis  de,  expedition 
against  the  Mohawks,  45-54, 
112;  his  officers  built  forts, 
302,  347 

Travesy,  Sieur  de,  56,  64,  73 

Trout  Brook,  Lord  Howe  killed 
at,  156,  159;  ramble,  253-256 

Trout  Pavilion,  268 

Tryon,  General  William,  Gov- 
ernor State  of  New  York  out- 
laws Ethan  Allen  and  others, 
229;  surprised  General  Put- 
nam at  Breakneck  Hill,  192 

Tuscaroras,  88 


U 


Union  Cemetery,  Fort  Edward, 

293 
Ui'sulines,  62,  85 


V 


Van  Corlear,  Arent,  48;  assisted 
wounded  French  soldiers,  48; 
drowned,  49,  100,  101 

Van  Deusen,  George,  307 

Van  Wormer's  Bay,  173,  268; 
post-glacial  outlet,  280;  Col- 
onel Brown  driven  into,  331 

Vaudreuil,  Marquis  Philip  Ri- 
gaud,  248.  277 

Vermont,  37 

Verrazano,  Giovanni  de,  sailed 
up  New  York  Bay,  2 

W 

Warner,  Seth,  229,  242,  357 
Washington,  George,  his  troops 
at     Great    Meadows    fired     a 
volley  that  echoed  around  the 
world,   113;    Putnam   next   in 
rank  to,  182,  183 
Waterbury,  General,  235 
Webb,  Major-General  Daniel,  at 
Fort  Edward  with  four  thou- 
sand troops,  127;  Monro  calls 
for   reinforcements,   133,   134. 
140,  141 
Westport,  355 
White,  Stewart  Edward,  173 


Index 


381 


Whitehall   (Skenesboro),  17,  37, 

118,  285 
Whiting,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  120 
Williams,  David,  347 
Williams,       Colonel       Ephraim, 

killed,    120;     on    the    bloody 

trail,  278 


Windmill  Point,  27 

Winooski  River,  37 

Wolf's  Den,  183-186 

Wolfe,  General  James,  35,  128 

Wood  Creek,  26,  117,  118,   189, 

287,  354 
Wraxall,  Peter,  106 


Jt  Setection  from  the 
Catalogue  of 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


Complete  Catalogues  sent 
on  application 


The  ^ioxy  of  OXdi  Fort 
Johnson 

A  Companion  Book  to  "  The  Mohawk  Valley  " 
By  W.  Max  Reid 

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THE   MOHAWn 
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Its  Legends  and  its  History 


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day. 

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The  Romance  of  the  Colorado  River 

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The  Ohio  River 

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of  history,  as  well  as  by  the  incomparable  settmg  the  great  bay  affords  for 
such  a  subject,  the  author  offers  this  result  of  his  labor  as  a  contribution 
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The  Great  Lakes 

Vessels  That  Plough  Them,  Their  Owners,  Theit  Sailors,  and  Their  Cargoes  / 
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ylmerican  W aterways 


The  St.  Lawrence  River 

Historical — Legendary — Picturesque 
By  George  Waldo  Browne 

Author  of  "  Japan — the  Place  and  the  People,"  "  Paradise  of  the  Pacific,"  etc, 

385  pages,  with  100  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     S3. 50  net 

While  the  St.  Lawrence  River  has  been  the  scene  of  many  important 
events  connected  with  the  discovery  and  development  of  a  large  portion 
of  North  America,  no  attempt  has  heretofore  been  made  to  collect  and 
embody  in  one  volume  a  complete  and  comprehensive  narrative  of  this  great 
waterway.  This  is  not  denying  that  considerable  has  been  written  relating 
to  it,  but  the  various  offerings  have  been  scattered  through  many  volumes, 
and  most  of  these  have  become  inaccessible  to  the  general  reader. 

Tliis  work  presents  in  a  consecutive  namrative  the  most  important 
historic  incidents  connected  with  the  river,  combined  with  descriptions  of 
some  of  its  most  picturesque  scenery  and  delightful  excursions  into  its 
legendary  lore.  In  selecting  the  hundred  illustrations  care  has  been  taken 
to  give  as  wide  a  scope  as  possible  to  the  views  belonging  to  the  river. 


The  Niagara  River 

By  Archer  Butler  Hulbert 

Professor  of  American  History,  Marietta  College ;  author  of  "  The  Ohio  River," 
"Historic  Highways  of  America,"  etc. 

350  pages,  with  70  Illustrations  and  Maps.     $3,50  net 

Professor  Hulbert  tells  all  that  is  best  worth  recordmg  of  the  history 
of  the  river  which  gives  the  book  its  title,  euid  of  its  commercial  present 
and  its  great  commercial  future.  An  immense  cimount  of  carefully  ordered 
information  is  here  brought  together  into  a  most  entertaming  and  informing 
book.  No  mention  of  this  volume  cam  be  quite  adequate  that  fails  to  take 
into  account  the  extraordinary  chapter  which  is  given  to  chronicling  the 
mad  achievements  of  that  compemy  of  dcire-devil  bipeds  of  both  sexes  who 
for  decades  have  been  sweeping  over  the  Falls  in  beirrels  emd  other 
receptacles,  or  who  have  gone  dancing  their  dizzy  way  on  ropes  or  wires 
stretched  from  shore  to  shore  above  the  boiling,  leaping  water  beneath. 


ylmerican     Waterways 


The  Hudson  River 

FROM  OCEAN  TO  SOURCE 
Historical  —  Legendary  —  Picturesque 

By  Edgcir  Mayhew  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Chronicles  of  Tarrytown,"  "  Narragansett  Bay,"  etc. 

600  Pages,  with  100  Illustrations,  including  a  Sectional  Map  of  the  Hudson 
River,     $3.50  net 

"  The  value  of  this  handsome  quarto  does  not  depend  solely  on 
the  attractiveness  with  w^hich  Mr.  Bacon  has  invested  the  w^hole  subject, 
it  is  a  kind  of  footnote  to  the  more  conventional  histories,  because  it 
throws  light  upon  the  life  and  habits  of  the  earliest  settlers.  It  is  a  study 
of  Dutch  civilization  in  the  New  World,  severe  enough  in  mtentions  to 
be  accurate,  but  easy  enough  in  temper  to  make  a  great  deal  of  humor, 
and  to  comment  upon  those  characteristic  customs  and  habits  which,  while 
they  escape  the  attention  of  the  formal  historian,  are  full  of  significance." 

Outlook. 


The  Connecticut  River 

AND  THE 

Valley  of  the  Connecticut 

THREE  HUNDRED  AND  FIFTY  MILES  FROM  MOUNTAIN  TO  SEA 

Historical  and  Descriptive 

By  Edwin  Munroe  Bacon 

Author  of  "  Walks  and  Rides  in  the  Country  Round  About  Boston,"  etc. 

500  Pages,  with  100  Illustrations  and  a  Map.     $3.50  net 

From  ocean  to  source  every  mile  of  the  Connecticut  is  crowded  with 
reminders  of  the  early  explorers,  of  the  Indian  wars,  of  the  struggle  of  the 
Colonies,  and  of  the  quaint,  peaceful  village  existence  of  the  early  days  of 
the  Republic.  Beginning  with  the  Dutch  discovery,  Mr.  Bacon  traces 
the  interesting  movements  and  events  which  axe  associated  with  this  chief 
river  of  New  England. 


American  Waterways 


The  Columbia  River 

Its  History — Its  Myths — Its  Scenery — Its  Commerce 
By  William  Denison  Lymjui 

Professor  of  History  in  Whitman  College,  Walla  Walla,  Washington 

430  pages,  with  80  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3.50  net 

This  is  the  first  effort  to  present  a  book  distinctively  on  the  Columbia 
River.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  author  to  give  some  special  prominence 
to  Nelson  and  the  magnificent  lake  district  by  which  it  is  surrounded. 
As  the  joint  possession  of  the  United  States  and  British  Columbia,  eind 
as  the  gremdest  scenic  river  of  the  continent,  the  Columbia  is  worthy  of 
special  attention. 

American  Inland  Waterways 

Their  Relation  to  Railway  Transportation  and  to  the  National 
Welfare }  Their  Creation,  Restoration,  and  Maintenance 

By  Herbert  Quick 
262  pages,  with  80  Illustrations  and  a  Map,     $3.50  net 

A  study  of  our  water  highways,  and  a  comparison  of  them  with  the 
like  channels  of  trade  and  travel  abroad.  This  book  covers  the  question 
of  waterways  in  well-nigh  all  their  aspects — their  importance  to  the  na- 
tion's welfare,  their  relations  to  the  railways,  their  creation,  restoration,  and 
mamtenance.  The  bearing  of  forestry  upon  the  subject  in  question  is 
considered,  and  there  is  a  suggested  plan  for  a  continental  system  of 
waterways.     There  are  a  large  number  of  illustrations  of  the  first  interest. 

The  Mississippi  River 

And  Its   Wonderful   Valley  Twenty^five  Hundred  and  Fifty 

Miles  from  Source  to  Sea 

By  Julius  Chambers 

Fellow  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society 

Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain 

The  War  Trail  of  the  Mohawk  and  the  Battleground  of  France 

and  England  in  their  Contest  for  the  Control  of  North  America 

By  W.  Max  Reid 

Author  of  "  The  Mohawk  Valley,"  "  The  Story  of  Old  Fort  Johnson,"  etc. 

In  Preparation 

Will  be  fully  illustrated  and  will  probably  be  published  at  $3.50  net 

The  Story  of  the  Chesapeake 

By  Ruthella  Mory  Bibbins 


\ 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


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